PUBLICATIONS 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA 


AMERICANA  GERMANICA 


MONOGRAPHS  DEVOTED  TO  THE  COMPARATIVE 
STUDY  OF  THE 


Literary,  Linguistic  and  other  Cultural  Relations 

OF 

Germany  and  America 

EDITOR 
MARION  DEXTER  LEARNED 

University  of  Pennsylvania 

(See  List  at  the  End  of  the  Book) 


IjALDUIN    MOLLHAUSEN 


BALDUIN  MOLLHAUSEN 

THE 
GERMAN  COOPER 


By 


PRESTON  ALBERT  BARBA',  PH.D. 

Assistant  Professor  of  German,  Indiana  University 


Amrrirauci  (Srrmautru 
VOLUME  17 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA 
1914 


COPYRIGHT  1914 

BY 

PRESTON  A.  BARBA 


TO 

CAROLINA  ALEXANDRA 
FRAU  BALDUIN  MOLLHAUSEN 

IN    GRATITUDE    AND    RESPECT 


353S60 


PREFACE 

The  purpose  of  this  volume,  like  that  of  my  monograph  on  Fried- 
rich  Armand  Strubberg  (Americana  Gennanica,  Vol.  16),  is  to  pre 
sent  a  personality  occupying  a  significant  position  in  the  history  of 
the  cultural  relations  of  Germany  and  America.  Balduin  Mollhausen 
was  the  last  great  exponent  of  that  large  mass  of  transatlantic  Ger 
man  fiction  which  followed  upon  the  introduction  of  Cooper's  works 
into  Germany,  and  upon  the  great  exodus  of  Germans  to  America 
during  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

The  material  here  offered  was  gathered  during  my  residence  in 
Germany  as  Harrison  Research  Fellow  in  Germanics  at  the  Univer 
sity  of  Pennsylvania  for  the  academic  year  1911-12,  but  the  force 
of  circumstances  has  prevented  an  earlier  publication  of  the  same. 
I  take  this  opportunity  of  expressing  my  appreciation  of  the  gener 
osity  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and  of  the  encouragement 
given  me  by  my  former  teacher,  Professor  Marion  D.  Learned,  of 
the  same  university. 

I  desire  especially  to  acknowledge  here  my  great  gratitude  to 
Frau  Carolina  Mollhausen,  the  widow  of  the  novelist,  for  so  kindly 
placing  at  my  disposal  the  letters  and  manuscripts  of  her  husband, 
and  for  rendering  me  constantly,  in  spite  of  her  advanced  age,  her 
gracious  assistance  and  encouragement. 

Sincere  thanks  are  further  due  to  Herr  Leutnant  Alexander 
Mollhausen,  a  son  of  the  novelist,  of  Berlin,  and  to  the  members  of 
his  family;  to  Justizrat  Hubert  Krupp  of  Bonn;  and  to  Herr  Karl 
Vollrath,  editor-in-chief  of  the  Berliner  Volkszeitung,  for  the  many 
courtesies  which  they  have  extended  to  me  in  the  preparation  of  this 
work. 

PRESTON  A.  BARBA. 
Chicago,  August,  1914. 


CONTENTS 

Introduction  by  Frau  Mollhausen  7 

Chapter 

I.     America  in  German  Fiction 9 

II.     The  Biography  of  Mollhausen 37 

III.     The  Works  of  Mollhausen  73 

Appendix 

1.  A  List  of  the  Editions  of  Mollhausen's  Works 153 

2.  Letters    158 

3.  a.     An  Interview  with  Mollhausen 182 

b.     An  Evening  with  Mollhausen  at  Dreilinden  ....  185 


EINLEITUNG 

Wie  eine  schone  Melodic  die  einmal  gehort  noch  lang  im  Ohr 
nachklingt,  so  leben  die  Stunden  gemeinsamer  Arbeit  mit  dem 
Verfasser  dieses  Buches  fort  in  meinem  Gedachtniss.  Dass  ich 
noch  lebte,  es  mir  vergonnt  war  im  zweiundachtzigsten  Lebensjahr, 
wie  in  geistiger  Frische,  diesem  liebenswiirdigen  von  ernstem,  nic 
ermiidendem  Fleiss  beseelten  jungen  Gelehrten  aus  meinen  Erin- 
nerungen  zu  niitzen,  das  war  ein  unausprechlich  grosses  Gliick  fur 
inich. — Aber  auch  ein  schones  ehrenvolles  Unternehmen  der  Uni- 
versitat  von  Pennsylvanien.  Balduin  Mollhausen,  dessen  Werke 
augenblicklich  in  illustrirter  Volksausgabe,  bei  Paul  List,  Leipzig, 
erscheinen,  ist  in  Wahrheit  noch  heut  "Liebling  des  Lesepub- 
likums",  wie  Doctor  Kurz  von  der  Staatsbiirger  Zeitung  ihn  zum 
achtzigsten  Geburtstag  genannt.  Amerika  aber  gebiihrt  der  Ruhm 
durch  dies  Buch  dem  Volk  auch  die  Person  des  Erzahlers,  sein 
Kampfen  und  Ringen,  denn  ohne  Kampf  kein  Sieg;  seine  Bezie- 
hungen  zu  hochgestellten  und  bedeutenden  Menschen,  naher  ge- 
bracht  zu  haben.  Was  Balduin  Mollhausen  unter  unsaglichen  Ent- 
behrungen  wahrend  seines  vielbewegten  VVanderns  in  der  Wildniss, 
an  lebensfrischen  Schilderungen  in  seinen  Werken  niedergelegt, 
durch  dies  Buch  wird  er  fortleben  im  Volk,  dessen  Freund  er  immer 
gewesen ;  als  ein  selbstloser  vortrefflicher  Character,  als  ein  treuer 
Arbeiter. 

Nur  durch  gute  Biicher  ist  es  moglich  Erhohung  der  Intelligenz 
und  veredelnde  Sittlichkeit  auch  in  die  armeren  arbeitenden,  und 
schon  deshalb  um  so  beachtenswerteren  Schichten  des  Volkslebens 
dringen  zu  lassen.  Die  edelste,  und  eine  unverwelkliche  Bliite  des 
Wohlstandes  ist  die,  welche  sich  im  Schosse  fortschreitender  gei 
stiger  Kultur  entfaltet.  Worte  fehlen  mir  um  diesem  grossen, 
(lurch  Kunstliebe  und  Gewerbfleiss  verherrlichten  Lande,  meinen 
tiefempfundenen  Dank  dafiir  darzubringen. 


Fiinfzig  Jahre  des  reinsten  Gliicks  an  der  Seite  des  besten 
Mannes  mit  den  Erinnerungen  aus  der  Jugendzeit  an  das  Haus  in 
dem  ich  unter  den  Augen  eines  Alexander  von  Humboldt  auf  wuchs ; 
— welch  reiches  Leben  liegt  hinter  mir.  Wie  Spiegelungen  aus 
dem  unergriindlichen  Meer,  tauchen  Bilder  auf  Bilder  empor. 
Wohl  erfiillen  sie  die  Seele  mit  Sehnsucht. — Liebe  und  Heiterkeit 
aber,  die  Stiitzen  des  Lebens,  fiihren  den  trunkenen  Blick  zuriick 
zur  Vergangenheit,  zu  dem  Zauber  entschwundenen  Gliicks. 

Carolina  Alexandra 
Berlin,  im  Juni,  1912.  Frau  Balduin  Mollhausen. 


CHAPTER  I 
AMERICA  IN  GERMAN  FICTION 

Deeply  seated  in  the  nature  of  the  German  is  his  love  for  the 
exotic.  This  trait,  which  finds  further  expression  in  the  character 
istic  German  "Wanderlust",  explains  the  delight  which  the  Germans 
took  in  such  mediaeval  epics  as  the  Ale.vanderlied  (ca.  1140),  Konig 
Rother  (ca.  1160),  and  Herzog  Ernst  (ca.  1180),  which  display  the 
knowledge  the  crusaders  had  brought  to  Western  Europe  from  the 
Orient.  To  it  may  also  be  ascribed  the  later  successes  which  the 
Spanish  picaresque  romances  and  their  German  imitations,  as  well 
as  the  numerous  Robinsonades  of  every  conceivable  nature  which 
followed  upon  Defoe's  work,  enjoyed  in  Germany.  In  spite  of  the 
repeated  satire  and  criticism  of  thinkers  and  patriots,  this  trait 
continues  to  persist.  It  is  too  firmly  rooted  in  that  inherent  Germanic 
idealism  which  finds  no  contentment  in  the  now  and  the  here. 
Goethe's  question  and  exhortation : 

Willst  du  immer  weiter  schweifen? 
Sieh,  das  Gute  liegt  so  nah. 
Lerne  nur  das  Gliick  ergreifen, 
Denn  das  Gluck  ist  immer  da, 

is  today,  as  ever,  unanswered  and  unheeded. 

It  is  safe  to  assert  that  no  one  thing  in  modern  times  has  so  long 
fascinated  the  German  mind  and  so  fired  the  German  imagination  as 
did  America  with  its  hidden  wealth,  its  unexplored  areas,  and  its 
unbounded  possibilities.  There  beyond  the  Atlantic  the  dreams 
dreamt  for  ages  were  to  be  realized:  for  the  poet  and  thinker,  a 
Utopia ;  for  the  peasant  an  El  Dorado. 

The  name  America  was  familiar  to  the  Germans  since  the  begin 
ning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  having  been  given  to  the  newly  dis 
covered  lands  by  their  compatriot  Martin  Waldseermiller  in  his 
Cosmo graphiae  Introductio,  1507.  During  the  same  and  the  follow 
ing  century  there  appeared  various  works  by  explorers  and  cos- 
mographers,  which,  if  not  always  accurate,  were  at  least  instrumental 
in  creating  further  interest.  In  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth 
century  the  attention  of  the  Germans  was  centered  upon  America 


io  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

through  the  great  emigrations  thither  from  southwestern  Germany 
due  to  wars,  tyranny,  and  religious  intolerance.  In  the  latter  part 
of  the  eighteenth  century  the  eyes  of  all  Germany  were  focused  upon 
the  struggles  of  the  American  Colonies  for  independence  from 
England. 

Historians  have  taken  considerable  pains  to  trace  the  influence  of 
Germany  upon  the  development  of  American  culture,  but  strangely 
enough  little  attention  has  been  given  to  the  influence  the  American 
republic  has  exercised  upon  the  German.  Especially  has  this  been 
the  case  with  regard  to  German  fiction.  It  must  certainly  be  a 
source  of  some  gratification  to  the  American  student  of  literature  to 
find  that  no  mean  portion  of  the  German  fiction  of  the  nineteenth 
century  is  concerned  directly  or  indirectly  with  America.  Of  course 
German  men  of  letters  before  that  time  had  not  been  wholly  unmind 
ful  of  the  literary  asset  which  lay  in  America,  yet  their  interest  in 
the  same  had  manifested  itself  in  German  literature  only  in  sporadic 
instances.  With  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century,  however, 
America  became  a  significant  factor.  At  this  time  two  potent 
forces  were  at  work  which  were  to  give  new  life  to  German  fiction 
and  create  for  it  a  distinct  species.  The  one  force  came  from 
America,  the  other  emanated  from  Germany  and  directed  itself  to 
ward  America.  The  former  came  with  the  introduction  of  Cooper's 
works  into  Germany,  the  other  grew  from  those  inner  social  and 
political  conditions  which  finally  brought  on  the  great  exodus  of 
Germans  to  the  western  continent.  These  two  forces  are  of  suf 
ficient  importance  to  be  considered  more  minutely. 

I.  Cooper  and  Indian  Fiction  in  Germany.  Ever  since  the  pre 
sentation  of  six  Indians  at  the  court  of  Spain  by  Columbus  upon  the 
return  from  his  first  voyage  of  discovery,  the  aborigines  of  the 
western  continent  possessed  a  strange  fascination  for  the  European. 
The  Germans,  not  being  a  sea-faring  people,  and  less  engaged  in 
colonization,  had  also  more  limited  sources  of  information  than  did 
the  French,  English  and  Spanish.  In  those  early  days  they  were 
dependent  upon  such  works  as  Michael  Herr's  Die  neue  Welt  (1534), 
Sebastian  Franck's  Spiegel  un  bildtniss  des  ganzten  erdbodens  in 
zner  Biicher,  etc.  (1534),  Sebastian  Minister's  Cosmographia.  Be- 
schreibung  oiler  Lander,  etc.  (1544),  and  Nickolaus  Federmann's 
Indianische  Historia  (1557).  Throughout  the  following  centuries 
works  descriptive  of  America  appeared  more  frequently,  and  the 
German  public  had  ampler  opportunity  to  inform  itself  concerning 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  n 

the  Indian.  In  the  eighteenth  century  there  appeared  in  Germany 
Adair's  Geschichte  der  nordamerik.  Indianer  (1782),  Mrt.  Dobritz- 
hoffer's  Geschichte  der  Abiponer  (1783),  and  Wm.  Bartram's  Reisen 
dnrch  Nord-  und  Sud-Karolina,  Georgien,  Ost-  und  West-Florida, 
das  Gebiet  der  Tscherokesen,  Kriks,  und  Tschaktahs,  etc.,  (Uber- 
setzt  v.  Zimmerman). 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  too,  came  the  great 
cultural  revolt  brought  on  by  Rousseau's  doctrine  of  the  goodness 
of  primitive  man,  a  doctrine  which  had  taken  firm  root  in  Germany. 
Upon  the  spread  of  Rousseauism  appeared  such  works  as  Herder's 
Stimmen  der  Volkcr  (1778-79)  and  Ideen  rrur  Philosophie  der  Ge 
schichte  der  Menschheit  (1784-1791),  in  the  latter  of  which  he  con 
sidered  the  characteristics  of  the  Indian.  Also  there  appeared  such 
poems  as  Schubart's  Der  sterbende  Indianer  an  seinen  Sohn,  Schil 
ler's  Nadowessische  Totenklage,  and  Seume's  celebrated  Der  Wilde, 
in  which,  though  perhaps  also  influenced  by  the  American  Revolu 
tion,1  the  Rousseauian  doctrine  is  hardly  negligible. 

From  Rousseau's  abstract  child  of  nature  to  the  American 
Indian  was  an  easy  leap,  and  the  romantic  mind  of  Europe  saw  in 
the  redman  a  noble  exemplification  of  the  former.  Of  course 
Chateaubriand's  Atala  (1801),  Rene  (1802)  and  Natchez  (1826), 
are  to  a  large  degree  responsible  for  this  romantic  attitude  toward 
the  redman.  In  these  works  the  Indian,  though  essentially  a  salon- 
Indian  and  vested  with  a  sentimentality  and  glamour  almost  un- 
pleasing  to  the  reader  of  today,  for  the  first  time  appears  in  fiction. 
Translations  of  these  works  were  widely  circulated.  With  the 
appearance  of  Cooper,  however,  their  popularity  waned.  The  critics 
of  our  day  find  the  novels  of  Cooper  romantic  and  his  Indians 
idealized.  The  fact  nevertheless  remains  that  to  a  public  which  had 
for  a  quarter  of  a  century  known  no  other  Indian  in  fiction  than 
Chateaubriand's  salon-Indian,  those  of  Cooper  appeared  intensely 
real. 

After  the  successes  of  his  second  novel,  The  Spy  (1821),  which 
was  translated  into  the  various  languages  of  Europe,  Cooper  soon 
became  recognized  as  the  first  representative  American  writer.  To 
him  belongs  the  credit  of  having  given  American  literature  a  respect 
able  place  beside  the  literatures  of  Europe.  Cooper's  popularity 

1  Cf.    J.  T.  Hatfield  and  E.  Hochbaum  :  The  Influence  of  the  American  Revo 
lution  upon  German  Literature.     Americana  Germanica.     Vol.  3. 


12  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

spread  to  nearly  all  of  the  civilized  countries  of  the  world,  and  rose 
to  a  height  perhaps  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  fiction.  The  works 
of  an  author  so  intensely  American  by  temperament  could  not  have 
been  so  widely  read  by  the  peoples  of  Europe  without  also  affecting 
their  subsequent  literature.  In  no  country  was  Cooper's  influence 
more  vital  than  in  Germany. 

When  the  German  translation  of  The  Spy  made  its  appearance 
in  Germany  in  1824  there  was  no  German  novelist  who  preeminently 
commanded  the  attention  of  the  reading  public.  The  only  notable 
contributions  to  German  novelistic  literature  in  the  immediately 
preceding  years  were  the  fragmentary  Kronenwdchter  (1817)  of 
L.  A.  von  Arnim,  Wilhelm  Meisters  Wander jahre  (1821)  of  Goethe 
and  several  of  the  fantastic  novels  of  E.  T.  A.  Hoffman.  The  one 
dominating  influence  in  German  fiction  at  this  time  was  a  foreign 
one,  namely  that  of  Walter  Scott.  But  the  popularity  of  the  Scotch 
novelist  was  soon  to  be  surpassed  by  that  of  Cooper,  especially 
among  the  lower  classes.  This  is  to  be  explained,  at  least  in  part, 
by  the  nature  of  the  contents  of  his  novels.  Cooper  had,  so  to  speak, 
broken  virgin  soil  in  the  domain  of  literature.  In  these  works  the 
German  saw  for  the  first  time  something  distinctly  national  in 
American  fiction.  In  them  the  American  Indian,  freed  from  all  old- 
world  doctrines,  became  for  the  German  public  an  intense  reality. 

In  1824,  a  year  after  its  appearance,  Cooper's  novel,  The 
Pioneers,  was  translated  into  German  and  from  that  time  forth 
German  translations  followed  immediately  upon  each  of  Cooper's 
works.  Yet  these  translations  proved  in  no  wise  sufficient  to  satisfy 
the  demand  among  the  German  people  for  Indian  fiction.  Contem 
porary  with  Cooper,  and  subsequently,  there  arose  in  Germany  an 
enormous  amount  of  Indian  literature.  I  have  pointed  out  else 
where  that  there  are  several  coexisting  types  of  Indian  in  all  this 
literature.2  Beside  the  Indian  of  Cooper  there  continued  to  appear 
the  romantic  Rousseauian  Indian  of  Chateaubriand,  to  which  was 
added  later  the  pitifully  degraded  Indian  of  the  second  half  of  the 
past  century. 

Scott's  novels  had  found  ready  and  successful  imitation  in  Ger 
many  at  the  hands  of  Hauff  and  Alexis.  It  was  only  necessary  to 
apply  Scott's  methods  to  German  history.  Cooper's  novels,  on  the 


*Cf.  My  article  The  American  Indian  in  German  Fiction  in  the  German 
American  Annals,  May-August,  1913. 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  13 

contrary,  could  not  in  the  same  way  be  transplanted  into  German 
soil ;  nor  did  their  nature  admit  of  imitation  readily  unless  by 
writers  who  were  acquainted  with  conditions  in  America.  The 
works  of  Cooper,  though  more  vividly  read  than  Scott's,  therefore 
at  first  exerted  an  influence  far  less  apparent. 

Goethe,  in  his  old  age,  took  delight  in  reading  Cooper,  as  is 
shown  in  the  Tagebiicher,  and  betrays  his  indebtedness  to  the  Ameri 
can  novelist  in  his  Novelle  (i827).3  Adalbert  Stifter's  interest  in 
America  as  expressed  in  Der  Kondor  (1840)  and  Feldblumen 
(1840)  and  the  "Waldromantik"  of  Der  Hocliu'ald  (1841)  were  in 
all  probability  fostered  by  Cooper's  novels.  Cooper's  popularity  is 
reflected  in  Fanny  Lewald's  delightful  novel  Diogena  (1847).  The 
influence  of  Cooper  is  very  evident  in  Johannes  Scherr's  Pilger  der 
Wildness  (1853)  whose  subject  matter,  namely  the  great  struggle 
between  the  pilgrims  of  Connecticut  and  the  Indians  under  Metacom 
commonly  known  as  King  Philip's  War,  is  identical  with  that  of 
Cooper's  Wept  of  Wish-ton-Wish  (1829).* 

The  Cooperian  influence  upon  the  authors  mentioned  above, 
must  after  all  be  considered  as  only  sporadic.  Not  one  of  these 
authors  was  a  disciple  of  Cooper  in  the  sense  that  Hauff  and  Alexis 
were  of  Scott.  For  such  followers  we  must  turn  to  the  exotic 
school  of  novelists,  many  of  whom  identified  themselves  exclusively 
with  the  transatlantic  novel.  These  writers  were  nearly  all  men 
whom  conditions  at  home  or  pure  "Auswanderungslust"  had 
brought  to  the  shores  of  America.  In  some  instances  they  diverge 
far  from  the  path  of  Cooper.  Since  Cooper's  early  novels  the  Far 
West  had  been  opened,  and  different  conditions,  both  among  the 
Indians  and  the  frontiersmen,  presented  themselves  to  the  novelist. 
The  novel  itself  had  evolved  toward  a  greater  realism.  In  spite  of 
all  this,  Cooper's  novels  remained  the  dominating  factor  in  the 
enormous  Indian  literature  which  followed  upon  their  introduction 
into  Germany. 

Charles  Sealsfield  (1793-1864),  commonly  known  as  the  father 
of  the  exotic  novel,  was  the  first  to  write  an  Indian  novel  in  German 
after  the  manner  of  Cooper.  Monastic  life  in  Prague  was  too 
restraining  for  the  impetuous  young  Austrian  monk,  Carl  Postl.  He 

1  Cf.   Dr.  Sp.  Wukadinovic.  Goethes  Novelle.  Halle  a.  S.  1909. 

4  Cf.  August  Sauer.  Uber  den  EinAuss  der  nordamerikanischen  Literatur 
auf  die  deutsche.  Im  Jahrbuch  der  Grillparzer-Gesellschaft.  16.  Jahrgang, 
1906. 


14  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

fled  to  America  and  was  henceforth  known  to  the  world  as  Charles 
Sealsfield.  In  1828  Sealsfield's  first  novel  Tokeah  or  the  White 
Rose,  an  Indian  Tale  appeared  in  English.  This  novel  was  later 
rewritten  and  appeared  in  German  in  1833  as  Der  Legitime  und 
die  Republikaner.  In  it  Sealsfield  champions  the  cause  of  the  red- 
man.  The  elegiac  note  which  Cooper  had  struck  in  his  Last  of  the 
Mohicans  here  becomes  a  cry  of  injustice.  The  author  evidently 
desired  to  depict  in  this  novel  the  last  struggle  of  the  legitimate 
heirs  to  the  American  soil  against  the  white  intruders.  In  this 
historical  novel  we  witness  the  wars  of  some  tribes  of  Creeks,  whose 
former  lands  lay  in  Georgia  and  Alabama,  under  their  chief  Tokeah 
against  the  whites  under  the  great  Republican  General  Jackson. 
Tokeah  finally  gives  up  the  land  of  his  ancestors  and  leaves  to  find 
a  new  home  among  the  Comanches  in  the  Far  West.  Tokeah  dies 
while  still  east  of  the  Mississippi,  but  his  remains  are  brought  to  the 
lands  beyond  the  great  river  where  he  had  hoped  to  live  unmolested 
with  his  people. 

Much  as  the  situation  of  the  American  Indian  may  have  inter 
ested  Sealsfield,  Der  Legitime  und  die  Republikaner  is  the  only  novel 
in  which  the  Indian  plays  any  considerable  role.  In  Der  Virey  und 
die  Aristokraten,  oder  Mexico  im  Jahre  1812  (i834)j  a  tale  of  the 
Mexican  uprisings  against  Spanish  oppression,  Mexican  Indians  are 
only  incidentally  introduced.  In  his  last  novel,  Suden  und  Norden 
(1842-1843),  another  Mexican  tale,  an  attack  by  Indians  upon  the 
American  party  is  described.  In  the  humorous  tale  Christophorus 
Barenhauter,  attached  to  the  second  volume  of  the  first  edition  of  the 
Transatlantische  Reiseskizsen  (1834),  Jemima,  the  mannish  wife  of 
Christophorus  is  attacked  by  the  Indians  and  carried  to  their  village 
on  the  Miami.  After  living  among  the  Indians  she  manages  to 
escape  to  her  old  home,  only  to  find  her  husband  remarried.  She 
returns  to  the  Indian  village,  gives  her  hand  to  the  chieftain  Toma 
hawk,  whom  she  domineers  and  changes  into  a  respectable  tiller  of 
the  soil. 

In  his  other  works  Sealsfield  chose  to  operate  with  phases  of 
American  society  with  which  he  was  better  acquainted.  We  have 
no  reason  to  think  that  he  ever  had  any  opportunity  for  studying 
the  customs  and  manners  of  the  Indian.  In  that  respect  Cooper  was 
much  better  equipped  and  conveys  in  the  course  of  his  novels  a  great 
deal  more  of  Indian  material  to  his  reader  than  does  Sealsfield. 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  15 

While  Cooper  and  Sealsfield  were  at  the  height  of  their  popu 
larity  there  rose  in  Germany  a  small  group  of  writers  who  by  no 
means  possessed  the  literary  ability  of  their  predecessors,  but  they 
had  been  actual  observers  and  students  of  Indian  life  and  manners. 
This  group  consisted  of  men  who  were  in  a  sense  adventurers : 
some  had  fought  against  the  Indians,  some  had  lived  peacefully 
among  them,  and  all  only  later  took  to  the  writing  of  fiction.  What 
their  works  lack  in  point  of  literary  quality,  they  make  up  in  vivid 
portrayal  of  Indian  life  as  it  existed  at  a  later  period,  when  the  red 
man  had  lost  much  of  that  glory  he  possessed  before  he  fell  a  victim 
to  the  vices  of  his  conquerors. 

The  first  of  this  group,  and  Sealsfield's  great  successor  in  the 
field  of  the  exotic  novel,  was  Gerstacker.  Friedrich  Gerstacker 
(1816-1872)  was  early  seized  with  an  unconquerable  "Drang  in  die 
Feme."  In  1837  he  made  his  first  journey  to  America  where  he 
remained  until  1843,  in  tne  meanwhile  living  a  most  varied  life  as 
hunter,  sailor,  cook,  silversmith,  manufacturer  and  hotelkeeper.  He 
made  three  subsequent  journeys  to  America. 

Upon  returning  from  his  first  journey  to  America  Gerstacker 
published  his  Streif-  nnd  Jagdziige  dnrch  die  Vereinigten  Staaten 
Nordamerikas  (1844),  in  which  he  relates  in  sketches  his  various 
experiences  in  the  new  world.  Gerstacker  was  soon  looked  upon  as 
the  foremost  writer  of  the  exotic  novel  which  Sealsfield  had  founded. 
Endowed  with  keen  powers  of  observation,  a  glowing  imagination, 
and  a  facile  way  of  expressing  what  he  had  seen,  he  knew  well  how  to 
cater  to  the  prevailing  demand  and  for  nearly  thirty  years  main 
tained  an  enviable  position  as  a  writer  of  exotic  fiction.  Between 
the  appearance  of  his  Streif-  nnd  Jagdziige  in  1844,  and  his  death 
in  1872  he  published  upwards  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  volumes. 
His  best  works  were  his  early  novels  and  books  of  travel.  Upon 
his  Sfreif-  Mid  Jagdziige  appeared  Die  Regulator  en  in  Arkansas 
(1846),  and  its  continuation,  Die  Flusspiraten  des  Mississippi 
(1848).  About  the  same  time  appeared  Mississippi-Bilder,  Licht- 
und  Schattenseiten  transatlantischcn  Lebens  (1847-1848).  The  fol 
lowing  year  was  published  Amerikanische  W 'aid-  und  Strombilder 
(1849).  During  the  gold  fever  of  1849  Gerstacker  was  in  Cali 
fornia.  Calif orniens  Gold-  und  Quecksilber-District.  Nach  The 
California  Herald  (1849),  which  went  through  three  editions  in  the 
same  year,  and  his  Gold!  Ein  Calif orn ische s  Lebensbild  aus  dem 
Jahre  1849  (T8s8),  reflect  this  interesting  period. 


1 6  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

Gerstacker's  name  is  for  the  German  always  associated  with 
Western  life  in  America.  Yet  Gerstacker  was  by  no  means  ex 
clusively  an  "Amerika"  writer.  After  he  had  used  the  experiences 
of  his  first  and  second  trips  to  America  in  his  works,  he  turned  to 
other  fields.  For  a  time  he  drew  upon  nearly  all  the  uncivilized 
portions  of  the  globe  for  material,  later,  however,  again  returning 
to  American  sources.  Among  the  later  works  which  would  interest 
us  here  on  account  of  their  American  material  are  Zwei  Republiken 
(1865),  Untcr  den  Penchuenchen,  Chilenischer  Roman  (1867), 
Die  Blaucn  und  Gelben,  Venezuelanisches  Characterbild  aus  der 
letzten  Revolution  ron  1868  (1870),  and  Die  Pampas-Indianer 
(1874). 

Gerstacker's  works,  while  not  possessing  the  literary  quality  of 
Sealsfield's,  were  far  more  effective  in  spreading  knowledge  con 
cerning  Indian  life.  Sealsfield's  works  never  found  their  way  into 
the  hearts  of  the  common  people  as  did  those  of  Gerstacker. 
Through  the  works  of  the  latter  the  Indian  as  seen  through  a 
German  temperament  first  became  common  German  property. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  figures  in  this  group  of  writers  was 
that  of  Friedrich  Armand  Strubberg  (1806-1889)  who,  in  company 
with  several  other  Germans,  lived  a  number  of  adventurous  years 
in  a  palisaded  fortress  on  the  extreme  frontier  of  Texas.  Returning 
to  Germany,  he  settled  again  in  his  native  town  of  Kassel,  where 
he  soon  became  well  known  as  a  fascinating  narrator  of  life  in 
America.  Induced  by  his  friends  to  put  his  interesting  adventures 
into  literary  form,  Strubberg  published  Amerikanische  Jagd-  und 
Reiseabenteuer  (1858).  Encouraged  by  the  reception  given  his 
first  work,  he  now  entered  upon  his  literary  career,  although  already 
more  than  fifty  years  old.  Between  the  ages  of  fifty-two  and 
seventy-two  he  published  more  than  fifty  volumes  of  novels. 

In  Amerikanische  Jagd-  und  Reiseabenteuer  the  author  describes 
his  own  experiences  during  the  years  he  dwelt  on  territory  of  the 
Comanches  on  the  Leona.  Bis  in  die  Wildniss  (1858)  describes  his 
journey  to  the  frontier  of  Texas.  In  An  der  Indianergrenze,  oder 
Treuer  Liebe  Lohn  (1859),  the  author  gives  a  graphic  picture  of 
western  frontier  life.  Against  a  realistic  setting  of  primitive 
squatter  life  and  all  its  dangers  he  paints  a  delicate  idyl  of  the 
Indian  maid  Owaja  and  her  love  for  the  settler  Farnwald.  The 
material  employed  in  Ralph  Norwood  (1860)  bears  some  similarity 
to  that  of  Sealsfield's  Der  Legitime  und  die  Republikaner,  being  the 


Balduin  Mollhauscu,   I  he  German  Cooper  17 

story  of  the  struggles  of  the  Seminoles  in  Florida  and  the  final 
removal  of  the  small  remaining  number  by  the  government  to  the 
Far  West.  Fricdrichsburg,  die  Colonie  des  dcutschen  Fiirsten- 
yercins  in  Texas  (1867)  ls  m  point  of  historical  value  the  most 
interesting  of  Strubberg's  works.  It  reflects  pioneer  life  in  the 
German  colony  of  Friedrichsburg,  which  was  established  in  Texas 
by  the  "Mainzer  Adelsverein"  in  1846,  and  with  which  Strubberg 
was  connected  as  Colonial  Director  soon  after  its  beginnings.  The 
work  is  exceedingly  rich  in  Indian  material.  All  of  Strubberg's 
works  deal,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  with  America,  and  in  a 
large  number  of  them  the  Indian  plays  a  conspicuous  part. 

No  German  writer  of  Indian  fiction  was  better  acquainted  with 
the  Indian  of  North  America  than  Strubberg.  Many  of  his  Indians 
are  splendidly  realistic  portraits  of  the  redskin  of  the  Far  West  in 
the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century.  But  among  these  we  meet 
also  more  romantic  types,  the  descendants  of  the  Indians  of  Cooper 
and  of  Chateaubriand.  The  majority  of  Strubberg's  Indians  are, 
however,  realistic  enough.  They  must  of  necessity  differ  from 
the  Indian  Cooper  had  known  on  the  frontier  of  western  New 
York.  The  Indian  Strubberg  had  known  and  faithfully  portrayed 
for  us  is  the  Indian  who  has  lived  through  a  century  of  shame  and 
dishonor,  one  broken  in  strength,  retreating  ever  farther  to  his 
destiny  in  the  land  of  the  setting  sun.5 

Another  very  prolific  writer  of  transatlantic  fiction  was  Ernst 
Freiherr  von  Bibra  (1806-1878).  He  had  studied  jurisprudence 
at  the  University  of  Wiirzburg,  but  later  turned  to  chemistry  and 
the  natural  sciences.  In  1850  he  entered  upon  extensive  travels  in 
South  America.  Upon  his  return  he  settled  in  Nuremberg  and 
devoted  himself  to  the  writing  of  fiction.  Bibra  operates  largely 
with  South  American  material.  His  Indian  is  of  course  the  Indian 
of  South  America.  The  following  works  may  be  mentioned  here : 
Reisen  in  Siidamerika  (1854);  Erinnerungen  aus  Sudamerika 
(1861)  ;  Aus  Chili,  Peru  und  Brasilien  (1862)  ;  Ein  Juwel  (1863)  ; 
Hoffnungen  in  Peru  (1864);  Reiseskizsen  und  Novellen  (1864); 
Die  Abenteuer  eines  jungen  Peruaners  in  Deutschland  (1870)  ;  In 
Sudamerika  und  in  Euro  pa  (1874). 

"For  a  detailed  account  of  Strnbberg's  works  see  my  monograph,  The 
Life  and  Works  of  Friedrich  Armand  Strubberg.  Americana  Germanica. 
Vol.  16 


1 8  Balduin  Mdllhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

The  great  mass  of  Indian  literature  which  came  from  the  pens 
of  the  above  writers  in  the  nineteenth  century  seems  not  at  all  to 
have  injured  the  sale  of  Cooper's  works  in  Germany.  In  addition 
to  the  early  publication  of  translations  by  Wienbrack  in  Leipzig 
and  Sauerlander  in  Frankfort,  there  had  been  appearing  since  1853 
the  large  Stuttgart  edition  of  Cooper's  works  besides  single  editions 
and  retranslations  without  number.6  Nor  do  these  translations  of 
Cooper  and  the  numerous  works  of  the  writers  considered  above 
appear  to  have  satisfied  the  demand  of  the  German  reading  public 
for  Indian  fiction.  Through  Cooper  attention  had  been  generally 
drawn  to  the  progress  of  literature  in  America  and  translators  were 
soon  occupied  with  the  preparation  of  other  works  by  American 
authors  for  the  German  market.  Sauerlander  was  also  giving  the 
Germans  the  works  of  Washington  Irving.  Very  soon  after  the 
introduction  of  Irving  into  Germany  there  followed  translations 
from  the  works  of  James  K.  Paulding  (1779-1860),  the  friend  of 
Irving;  of  the  English  novelist  Frederick  Marryat  (1792-1848); 
of  the  once  much  read  American,  Dr.  Robert  M.  Bird  (1803-1854)  ; 
of  our  Southern  novelist  W.  Gilmore  Simms  (1806-1870)  ;  of  the 
English  writer  Sir  Charles  Augustus  Murray  (1806-1895)  whose 
works  on  America  were  much  admired  by  the  historian  Prescott; 
of  the  English  novelist  Captain  Mayne  Reid  (1818-1883)  ;  as  also 
translations  of  many  isolated  works  by  less  known  writers. 

While  these  translations  from  English  and  American  sources 
were  making  their  way  into  Germany  and  finding  a  ready  market 
there,  translators  had  not  been  unmindful  of  parallel  French  fiction. 
In  France  Cooper's  works  had  had  a  similar  influence.  The  most 
prominent  of  the  French  writers  following  in  the  paths  of  Cooper 
were  Gabriel  Ferry,  the  pen  name  for  Louis  de  Bellemarre  (1809- 
1852),  who  met  his  death  at  sea  while  on  his  way  to  California; 
Paul  Duplessis  (ca.  1815-1865) ;  and  Gustave  Aimard  (1818-1883), 
who  had  come  to  America  as  a  young  man,  and  for  a  number  of 
years  dwelt  among  the  Indians  of  the  West.  Many  of  the  works  of 
these  men  were  translated  into  German  and  extensively  read. 

Two  belated  writers  of  Indian  fiction,  who  nevertheless  gained 
an  extensive  reading  public,  are  Pajeken  and  May.  Friedrich  Pa- 
jeken  (1855 — ),  after  spending  a  number  of  years  in  a  mercantile 


6  Cf .    My  article  Cooper  in  Germany.     German  American  Annals.     Jan.- 
Feb.,  1914. 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  19 

house  in  his  native  city  of  Bremen,  went  to  Venezuela,  where  he 
remained  four  years,  during  which  time  he  conceived  the  idea  of 
employing  his  experiences  and  observations  in  literature.  Later  he 
went  to  the  western  part  of  North  America,  where  he  studied  the 
Indians  and  gathered  material  for  his  future  works.  Pajeken  pur 
posed,  as  he  himself  remarks  in  the  introduction  to  Im  wilden  IVesten, 
to  counteract  the  alluring  but  evil  influence  of  the  sensational  Indian 
novels  then  flooding  the  market,  and  to  that  end  heaps  up  the  hard 
ships  and  dangers  of  western  life,  and  causes  his  characters  to 
moralize  upon  their  misdeeds.  Karl  May  (1842-1912),  the  more 
popular  of  the  two  writers,  also  wrote  at  a  time  when  Indian  fiction 
had  nearly  outlived  itself.  He  employs  in  his  novels  the  technic  of 
the  cheap  Nick  Carter  and  Sherlock  Holmes  stories,  in  which  no 
situation  is  too  difficult  for  the  hero  and  no  obstacle  so  great  that  it 
cannot  be  overcome.  Yet  Karl  May  won  and  maintained  for  a  num 
ber  of  years  a  larger  reading  public  than  any  other  writer  of  Indian 
fiction,  unless  we  except  Cooper.  No  serious  reader  will  give  Karl 
May  an  important  place  in  German  literature,  many  have  even 
considered  him  an  impostor,  and  yet  there  are  few  Germans  of  this 
generation  who  have  been  able  to  resist  his  thrilling  narrative. 

This  great  stream  of  Indian  fiction  whose  source  lay  in  Chateau 
briand,  but  whose  supporting  tributary  had  for  three  quarters  of 
a  century  been  Cooper,  may  be  said  to  have  spent  itself  in  the  works 
of  Karl  May. 

II.  German  Emigration  Fiction.  At  the  beginning  of  the  nine 
teenth  century  the  common  people  of  Germany  were  still  feasting 
on  the  romances  of  robbery  and  chivalry  as  produced  by  Spiess, 
Vulpius,  Cramer,  and  others.  But  they  were  shortly  to  turn  to  a 
species  of  fiction  in  which  they  were  to  find  themselves  and  their 
own  cause  reflected.  The  more  aristocratic  note  which  had  been 
struck  in  German  fiction  by  the  early  romanticists  was  gradually 
dying  out;  only  a  faint  sound  still  lingered  in  the  later  works  of 
Tieck  and  those  of  Immermann.  Der  junge  Tischlermeister  (1836) 
of  the  former  and  Der  Oberhof  (in  Miinchhausen,  eine  Geschichte 
in  Arabesken,  1839)  of  the  latter  had  already  advanced  decidedly 
toward  the  presentation  of  common  life.  In  1815  a  German  trans 
lation  of  Scott  was  published.  For  the  next  ten  years  the  works  of 
Scott  and  those  of  his  two  great  German  followers,  Hauff  and 
Alexis,  may  be  said  to  have  commanded  the  literary  interest  of 


20  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

Germany  almost  exclusively.7  Scott  had  introduced  into  his  works 
all  classes  of  society.  With  the  introduction  of  the  lower  classes 
into  German  fiction  was  made  a  decided  step  toward  that  realism 
which  was  to  revivify  the  German  novel. 

With  the  works  of  Cooper  came  a  new  stream  of  realism  and  a 
considerable  force  in  the  democratizing  of  German  fiction.  We 
have  considered  Cooper  in  his  relation  to  German  Indian  fiction  and 
the  great  popularity  his  Indians  enjoyed.  But  perhaps  just  as  attrac 
tive  to  the  German  reader  as  the  Indian  were  Cooper's  pictures  of 
American  life,  especially  frontier  life,  which  appealed  directly  to 
the  German  at  this  time.  It  was  the  period  preceding  the  reaction 
commonly  known  as  the  "Young  German"  movement.  Germany 
was  suffering  political  ignominy.  Under  the  fearful  rule  of  Metter- 
nich  there  was  little  hope  that  the  German's  dreams  for  a  united 
Fatherland  could  ever  be  realized.  A  last  resort  for  the  afflicted 
German  lay  in  the  young  republic  beyond  the  sea.  The  word 
"Amerika !"  was  an  open  sesame  which  presented  undreamed  pros 
pects.  With  the  great  exodus  of  Germans  to  the  western  continent 
came  the  most  decisive  impact  which  German  fiction  received 
toward  democracy.  The  great  migrations  of  the  nineteenth  century 
began  with  the  year  1817.  In  that  year  twenty  thousand  Germans 
were  driven  to  the  shores  of  America.  Between  1820-30,  fifteen 
thousand  more  Germans  had  immigrated.  The  uprisings  of  1832 
and  1833,  as  a  result  of  the  "Bundestags  Ordonnanzen"  of  1831 
greatly  increased  emigration.  Between  1831-40  the  number  of 
emigrants  rose  to  almost  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand.8  While 
these  migrations  were  mainly  due  to  oppression  at  home,  they  were 
also  fostered  by  certain  works  on  emigration  and  the  endeavors  of 
Emigration  Societies.  These  circumstances  could  not  help  but 
vitally  influence  German  literature.  In  the  wake  of  German  emi 
gration  to  America  followed  a  great  and  varied  mass  of  fiction  which 
has  received  little  consideration  at  the  hands  of  literary  historians. 

We  have  observed  above  that  literary  Germany  had  been  not 
wholly  unmindful  of  the  young  republic  on  the  western  continent, 
but  only  after  the  great  migrations  of  the  nineteenth  century  can  we 
speak  of  the  German  Emigration  Novel  as  a  distinct  species  of 
German  fiction. 


7Cf.  Hellmuth  Mielke:  Der  deutsche  Roman:  p.  61,  4.  Ausg.,  1914. 
8Cf.     G.  Korner:  Das  deutsche  Element  in  den  Vereinigten  Staaten  von 
Nordamerika,  1818-1848.  Cincinnati,  1880;  p.  432. 


Balduin  Mollhausen,   'I  he  (irrnuni   c'oo/v  _M 

Goethe  was  of  the  opinion  that  with  German  emigration  a  great 
field  would  be  opened  up  for  fresh  literary  activity  and  it  appears 
that  he  had  for  some  time  busied  himself  with  such  material.  His 
own  advanced  age,  perhaps,  hindered  him  from  himself  employing 
such  material,  but  he  did  not  hesitate  to  point  the  way  to  the  younger 
generation.  Goethe  had  actually  drawn  plans  for  an  emigration 
novel!  Under  the  title  Staff  und  Gehalt,  sur  Bearbeitung  vor- 
geschlagen*  dated  1827  Goethe  considers  the  work  Ludwig  Galls 
Auswanderung  nach  den  Vereinigten  Staaten  (Trier,  1822)  and 
comments  at  length  upon  the  interesting  jnaterial  offered  therein  to 
the  novelist. 

"Urn  dieses  dritte  Werk  gehorig  zu  benutzen,"  Goethe  continues, 
"wiirde  das  vorziiglichste  Talent  verlangt,  das  zu  vielen  Vorar- 
beiten  sich  entschlosse,  sodann  aber  eine  freie  Umsicht  zu  ervverben 
fahig  und  gliicklich  genug  ware.  Der  Bearbeitende  miisste  den 
Stolz  haben,  mit  Cooper  zu  wetteifern,  und  deshalb  die  klarste  Ein- 
sicht  in  jene  iiberseeischen  Gegenstande  zu  gewinnen  suchen.  Von 
der  friihsten  Kolonisation  an,  von  der  Zeit  des  Kampfes  an,  den  die 
Europaer  erst  mit  den  Urbewohnern,  dann  unter  sich  selbst  fiihr- 
ten,  von  dem  Vollbesitz  an  des  grossen  Reiches,  das  die  Englander 
sich  gewonnen,  bis  zum  Abfall  der  nachher  vereinigten  Staaten, 
bis  zu  dem  Freiheitskriege,  dessen  Resultat  und  Folgen — diese  Zu- 
stande  samtlich  mussten  ihm  iiberhaupt  gegenwartig  und  im  Be- 
sonderen  klar  sein.  In  welche  Epoche  jedoch  er  seine  Handlung 
setzen  wolle,  ware  mancher  Uberlegung  wert. 

"Die  Hauptfigur,  der  protestantische  Geistliche,  der  selbst 
auswanderungslustig,  die  Auswandernden  ans  Meer  und  dann 
hiniibergefiihrt  und  oft  an  Moses  in  den  Wiisten  erinnern 
wiirde,  miisste  eine  Art  von  Dr.  Primrose  sein,  der  mit  so  viel 
Verstand  als  gutem  Willen,  mit  so  viel  Bildung  als  Thatigkeit  bei 
Allem,  was  er  unternimmt  und  fordert,  doch  immer  nicht  weiss, 
was  er  thut,  von  seiner  ruling  passion  fortgetrieben,  dasjenige,  was 
er  sich  vorsetzte,  durchzufiihren  genotigt  wird  und  erst  am  Ende 
zu  Atem  kommt.wenn  aus  grenzenlosem  Unverstand  und  uniiber- 
sehbarem  Unheil  sich  zulezt  noch  ein  ganz  leidliches  Dasein  her- 
vorthut. 

"Was  den  Personenbestand  betrifft,  so  hat  weder  ein  epischer, 
noch  dramatischer  Dichter  je  zur  Auswahl  einen  solchen  Keichtum 


'See  Goethes  Werke.    Cottasche  Ausg.   (Goedeke)   Bd.  18,  s.  261   f. 


22  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

vor  sich  gesehen.  Die  Unzufriedenen  beider  Weltteile  stehen  ihm 
zu  Gebot ;  er  kann  sie  zum  Teil  nach  und  nach  zu  Grunde  gehen, 
endlich  aber,  wenn  er  seine  Favoriten  giinstig  untergebracht  hat, 
die  iibrigen  stufenweise  mit  sehr  massigen  Zustanden  sich  be- 
gniigen  lassen." 

Goethe's  advice  to  German  writers  as  to  the  employment  of 
such  American  material  remained  unheeded,  perhaps  because  none 
were  sufficiently  acquainted  with  such  material.  Ten  years  later, 
however,  appeared  a  novel  which  was  in  a  sense  a  precursor  of  the 
long  line  of  Emigration  Fiction.  It  is  Die  Europamuden  (1837) 
of  Ernst  Willkomm  (1810-1886).  In  this  work  the  discontent  of 
"Jung-Deutschland"  reached  an  hysterical  climax.  As  a  novel  the 
work  possesses  little  value.  Here  it  is  of  interest  inasmuch  as  it 
directs  Germany's  discontent  and  yearnings  toward  America  for 
relief.  Willkomm  has  employed  a  Protestant  clergyman  in  his 
novel,  as  Goethe  suggested,  but  it  is  not  the  modern  patriarchal 
Moses  leading  his  flock  to  a  new  home  across  the  sea.  He  is  a 
dissenting  "Europamiider"  who  with  the  voice  of  a  scourging 
prophet  declares :  "Die  Siinden  der  Welt  sind  die  Folgen  der  fluch- 
wiirdigen  Verhaltnisse,  die  geboren  wurden  aus  socialer  Unnatur, 
mystischer  Heuchelei — weil  man  den  Sinn  aller  Religiositat  von 
Anfang  an  misverstancl — schwachender  Knechtsgesinnung  und 
schlaffer  Lebenssitte,  die  alles  mit  der  Schminke  der  Etiquette  besu- 
delte.  Daran  stirbt  Europa,  dadurch  wird  es  der  Sklave  zuerden  des 
Westens,  in  dem  es  zwar  Siinden  gibt  und  Laster,  aber  nur  Siinden 

der  Kraft  und  des  Ubermuthes Driiben  aber  iiber 

den  Wogen  des  atlantischen  Oceans  liegt  das  Land  der  Verheissung 
im  heiligen  Schatten  des  Urwalds  gebettet,  der  es  umfangt  und 
mit  den  Locken  der  Hoffnung  umschmeichelt,  wie  eine  Mutter 
ihr  lachelndes,  Kraftvolles  Kind !  Dorthin  hat  sich  gefliichtet  die 
Natur,  als  Europa  sie  vertrieb.  In  der  durchsichtigen  Fluth  des 
Ohio  bespiegelt  sie  sich,  schuldlos,  weil  sie  stark,  und  fromm,  weil 
sie  frei  ist."  (Part  i,  p.  353.) 

Die  Europamuden  was  but  a  forerunner.  For  the  further  de 
velopment  of  the  emigration  novel  we  must  turn  to  a  small  group 
of  Germans  who  had  themselves  lived  in  America.  They  were 
without  exception  men  who  had  gone  to  America  either  because 
their  political  views  made  a  longer  stay  in  Germany  uncomfortable, 
or  else  because  the  German  "Wanderlust"  had  taken  possession  of 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  23 

them.  Many  of  them  were,  so  to  speak,  adventurers,  who  only  later 
accidently  turned  to  literature.  Some  of  them,  such  as  Sealsfield, 
Gerstacker,  and  Strubberg,  had  identified  themselves  both  with 
Indian  and  emigration  fiction  and  must  therefore  also  receive  con 
sideration  here. 

Since  Sealsfield  was  the  first  writer  in  German  to  gather  up 
the  exotic  and  ethnographic  threads  of  our  varied  American  life 
and  present  them  in  literary  form,  it  is  only  natural  to  look  for  a 
portrayal  of  German  emigrant  life  in  his  works.  Yet  there  are  com 
paratively  few  Germans  among  the  motley  array  of  Yankees,  Eng 
lishmen,  Frenchmen,  Creoles,  negroes,  and  Indians.  In  fact  there 
is  reason  to  believe  that  Sealsfield,  though  himself  a  Teuton, 
was  not  kindly  disposed  towards  the  German  "Michel"  seeking  his 
fortune  in  the  new  world. 

In  1835  appeared  Sealsfield's  Morton  oder  die  grosse  Tour,  in 
which  the  author  endeavors  to  show  the  power  of  gold  in  determin 
ing  the  fate  of  man.  Chapter  II  of  Part  I  is  entitled  Die  deutschen 
Emigranten.  Young  Morton  has  put  his  entire  fortune  into  the 
schooner  "Mary"  which  is  lost  at  sea.  In  despair  he  mounts  his 
horse  Cyrus,  rides  along  the  Susquehanna,  and  halts  at  a  precipitous 
bank  above  Harrisburg.  Here,  while  wrapped  in  the  thought  of 
committing  suicide,  he  is  approached  from  one  direction  by  Colonel 
I  sling,  the  county  judge,  from  the  other  by  a  family  of  wretched 
German  immigrants.  Sealsfield,  with  bitter  pen,  writes  of  the  latter 
(p.  48)  :  "Beim  ersten  Anblicke  gewahrte  man.  dass  es  Kinder  des 
unglikklichen  Landes  waren,  die  seit  so  vielen  Jahren  die  Erde  mit 
ihrem  Blute  zu  diingen,  die  Welt  mit  ihrer  Nacktheit  und  ihrem 
Elencle  anzuekeln  bestimmt  zu  seyn  scheinen ;  eines  jener  Bilder 
serviler  Unterwiirfigkeit,  wie  wir  sie  auf  den  Werften  unserer  See- 
stadte  haufig  als  Exemplare  dieser  Nation  zu  schauen  bekommen, 
und  die  tins  bereits  wider  Willen  gezwungen  haben,  der  unbegrenz- 
ten  Hospitalitat  unseres  Landes  Schranken  zu  setzen."  This  family 
had  landed  in  Philadelphia  without  a  penny.  Receiving  five  dollars 
from  the  German  Aid  Society,  the  head  of  the  family  bought  a 
wheelbarrow  on  which  he  loaded  his  few  possessions  and  proceeded 
to  Ohio.  In  Colonel  Isling  Sealsfield  portrays  a  German  of  the 
previous  generation  and  compares  him  with  the  type  of  German 
now  coming  to  America.  Isling,  who  had  come  as  a  Hessian  lieu 
tenant  to  fight  for  the  English,  was  taken  prisoner  at  Trenton,  and 
later  entered  the  Colonial  army.  In  his  conversation  with  young 


24  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

Morton,  with  whose  uncle,  a  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ 
ence,  he  had  been  acquainted,  Isling  shows  himself  a  staunch 
patriot,  and  eulogizes  Washington  and  Baron  von  Steuben.  The 
old  colonel,  having  spoken  words  of  encouragement  to  Morton, 
accompanies  him  to  Bethlehem  and  there  directs  him  by  mail-coach 
to  Philadelphia  with  a  letter  to  Stephy  (Girard).  Morton  presents 
his  letter  to  Stephy  who  says  of  old  Isling:  "Allen  Respekt  vor  alten 
Deutschen,  sind  wie  ihre  alten  Weine;  sind  aber,  hore  ich,  alle 
von  den  Franzosen  ausgetrunken  worden,  ihre  alten  Weine,  und 
die  jungen  taugen  nichts,  oder  nicht  viel."  In  this  same  chapter 
is  contained  the  story  of  the  German  immigrant  who  succeeds  by 
niggardliness  and  menial  traits  to  acquire  a  farm  in  Pennsylvania. 
Here  Sealsfield  again  ridicules  the  German  for  his  servile  habits 
and  lack  of  national  pride.  This  story  is  of  further  interest  for 
the  reason  that  it  was  afterwards  plagiarized  by  Fredinand  Kiirn- 
berger  in  his  well  known  novel  Der  Amerikamiide  (1856). 

In  Die  Deutsch-amerikanischen  Wahlverwandschaften  (1839) 
Sealsfield  introduces  several  Germans  but  does  not  operate  with 
them  as  elements  of  Amerian  society. 

In  the  story  Christophorus  Barenhaufer  (1834)  the  author  em 
ploys  Pennsylvania-German  material  with  which  he  had  the  oppor 
tunity  to  become  acquainted  during  his  stay  in  that  state.  Baren- 
hauter,  whose  family  had  migrated  from  the  Black  Forest,  is  a 
young  farmer  living  in  western  Pennsylvania.  The  author  com 
pares  the  thrifty  habits  and  well  kept  farm  of  the  family  with  those 
of  the  slovenly  Irish  and  Scotch  settlers,  but  again  emphasizes  the 
stupidity  of  the  German  and  places  Christophorus  in  a  ludicrous 
light. 

In  the  author's  last  work  Suden  und  Nor  den  (1842-43)  he  de 
scribes  a  journey  in  southern  Mexico,  calling  it  "eine  befremdende 
Mischung  von  Dichtung  und  Wahrheit".  In  the  expedition  is  Herr 
Bohne,  a  very  well  informed  young  German,  who,  in  spite  of  his 
knowledge,  is  the  constant  butt  for  the  party's  jokes. 

It  is  evident  that  Sealsfield  was  not  partial  to  his  own  race.  In 
fact  his  portrayal  of  the  German  immigrant  rather  aggravated  the 
keen  injuries  he  had  suffered  at  the  hands  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  whose 
derisive  "damn  Dutchman"  has  not  yet  quite  died  out.  The  love 
and  trust  which  Washington,  Franklin  and  Paine  had  disseminated 
among  the  poor  and  oppressed  of  all  nations  were  being  turned  to 
hatred  by  their  offspring.  The  nativism  of  the  Know-nothings  of 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  25 

the  forties  and  fifties  had  developed  a  bitter  antagonism  toward 
the  immigrant.  Nor  was  this  felt  by  the  immigrant  alone ;  it  was 
realized  as  an  insult  by  the  intelligent  minds  in  Germany.10 

It  is  quite  natural  that  a  writer  should  at  last  come  forth  to 
champion  the  cause  of  his  maltreated  countrymen  in  the  new  world. 
Dr.  Otto  Ruppius,  born  in  Glauchau,  1819,  was  a  German  who  had 
lived  and  experienced  much  in  America  without  ever  becoming  so 
intensely  Americanized  as  Sealsfield.  Ruppius  early  interested  him 
self  for  the  intellectual  improvement  of  the  German  working-classes. 
In  1848  he  edited  and  published  Die  Burger-  und  Baiiernzeitung. 
In  consequence  of  an  article  published  in  this  paper  on  the  dissolu 
tion  of  the  National  Convention  in  Prussia  (Nov.,  1848),  Ruppius 
was  condemned  to  a  term  of  nine  months'  imprisonment.  He  fled 
to  America  in  1849  where  he  was  active  for  a  number  of  years  as 
professor  of  music,  orchestral  conductor  and  journalist.  The  first 
literary  product  of  this  period  appears  to  have  been  Die  Waldspinne. 
Aus  dem  IVesten  Amerikas  (Genrebild,  1856).  Upon  this  work 
appeared  Der  Pedlar  (1857)  and  its  sequel  Das  I'ermiichtniss  des 
Pedlars  (1859).  Upon  these  two  novels,  in  which  are  related  the 
hardships  of  Helmstadt,  a  young  Prussian  revolutionist  of  1848, 
now  in  exile  in  America,  the  fame  of  the  author  largely  rests.  Their 
truthful  portrayal  of  American  life,  a  lack  of  that  gaudiness  and 
sensation  which  characterized  so  many  of  the  reports  of  life  in  the 
new  world,  and  the  favorable  attitude  toward  the  German  immi 
grant,  made  them  very  popular  with  the  Germans  in  America  as 
well  as  among  those  at  home.  The  Civil  War,  threatening  financial 
ruin,  now  began,  when  fortunately  the  final  amnesty  of  Prussia 
was  declared  in  1861  and  Ruppius,  with  his  wife  and  children,  re 
turned  to  Germany.  The  years  which  followed  upon  his  return  to 
his  native  land  proved  to  be  very  productive  ones.  There  had  ap 
peared  in  rapid  succession :  Geld  und  Geist.  Roman  aus  dem  amer. 
Leben  (1860);  Der  Prairie-Teufel  (1861;  Genrebilder  aiis  dem 
Deutsch-amer.  Lebcn  (i86i);n  Im  Westen  (1862);  Aus  dem 
Deutschen  Volksleben  ( 1862)  ;  Bin  Deutscher.  Roman  aus  der  amer. 


10 Cf.  Article  Nativismus  und  Know-nothings  in  Atlantische  Studicn.  /. 
Bd.  Gottingen,  1855. 

"  This  work  received  much  praise  and  was  even  suggested  as  suitable 
for  making  propaganda  for  the  "Berliner  Auswanderungsverein."  Cf.  Vos- 
sische  Zeitung,  n.  Okt.,  1861. 


26  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

Gesellschaft  ( 1862)  ;  Sudwest.  Erz'dhlungen  aus  dem  Dents ch-amer. 
Leben  (1863)  ;  Die  drei  Vagabonden.  Roman  aus  dem  Deutch- 
amer.  Leben  (appeared  in  the  Sonntagsblatt,  1863)  ;  Zwei  Welten 
(1863).  But  Ruppius  was  not  long  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  his  labors. 
He  died  in  June,  1864,  mourned  by  the  common  people  as  one  who 
had  been  their  champion  and  labored  in  their  behalf. 

The  continued  popularity  of  Ruppius  can  readily  be  understood. 
Unlike  his  contemporaries,  Sealsfield  and  Gerstacker,  he  did  not 
allow  the  exotic  element  to  predominate  in  his  works.  Uppermost 
is  his  portrayal  of  the  German  immigrant,  his  struggles  for  'an 
existence  on  foreign  soil,  his  hopes  and  longings.  A  favorite  theme 
of  the  author  was  the  following  out  of  the  career  of  a  young  German 
"greenhorn"  through  all  manners  of  trials  and  tribulations  to  a 
successful  end.  Though  Ruppius'  faith  in  his  fellow  countrymen 
in  the  New  World  led  him  to  portray  his  characters  in  too  glow 
ing  colors,  these  portrayals  were  instrumental  in  awakening  the 
downtrodden  German  to  a  consciousness  of  his  own  rights  and 
possibilities  and  served  as  a  healthy  reaction  against  the  prevailing 
antipathy  toward  the  German  immigrant. 

Frederich  Gerstacker,  who  was  at  this  time  the  most  popular 
writer  of  transatlantic  fiction,  had  found  in  German  emigration 
to  America  a  rich  source  for  material.  One  of  Gerstacker's  earliest 
works  was  Der  Deutschen  Auswanderer  Fahrten  und  Schicksale 
(1847).  Though  in  the  garb  of  a  novel,  this  work  was  for  wealth 
of  material  concerning  the  conditions  and  prospects  of  German 
immigrants  in  America  one  of  the  most  valuable  that  had  up  to 
that  time  appeared.  The  author  very  graphically  relates  the  ad 
ventures  of  a  German  Emigrant  Colony  which  crosses  the  Atlantic 
to  find  a  Paradise  in  the  new  world.  After  a  wretched  voyage  in 
unsanitary  steerage  quarters  the  little  colony  finally  arrives  in  New 
York  where  its  members  naively  entrust  themselves  to  sharp  hotel- 
keepers  who  grossly  overcharge  them.  Their  emigration  to  Tennes 
see  where  they  had  bought  lands  and  fallen  victims  to  the  land-shark, 
Doctor  Normann,  and  their  further  tribulations  as  they  later  proceed 
west  to  the  banks  of  the  Colorado,  are  all  skillfully  portrayed  with 
a  realism  that  gave  very  little  encouragement  to  prospective  German 
emigrants.  Indeed  it  was  thought  that  this  work  might  check  emi 
gration  to  America.  Two  years  later  appeared  a  work  which  the 
author  was  very  well  qualified  to  write,  and  one  which  must  have 
had  no  little  influence  upon  German  emigration  namely :  Wie  ist  es 


Balduin  Mdllhausen,  The  German  Cooper  27 

denn  nun  eigentlich  in  Amerikaf  Eine  kurze  Schilderung  dessen, 
zuas  der  Auswandercr  zn  thun  und  dafiir  zu  hoffen  und  zu  erwarten 
hat  (1849).  Although  it  can  not  be  classed  as  a  novel,  it  shows  the 
interest  the  novelist  had  in  emigration.  Gerstacker's  most  popular 
emigration  novel  was  probably  Nach  Amerka!  Bin  Volksbuch 
(1855),  a  book  for  the  people  in  the  right  sense  of  the  word.  It  is 
a  splendid  gallery  of  German  emigrant  types,  drawn  from  actual 
life.  Gerstacker's  continued  interest  in  the  progress  of  German 
immigrants  in  America  and  their  part  in  American  affairs  is  ex 
pressed  in  one  of  the  author's  last  works,  written  as  a  sequel  to  the 
above  many  years  later,  his  In  Amerika.  Amerikanisches  Lebensbild 
aus  neuerer  Zeit.  Im  Anschluss  an  "Nach  Amerika"  1872). 
Upon  his  visits  to  the  German  colonies  in  South  America  appeared 
Die  Colonie.  Brasilianisches  Lebensbild  (1864).  The  above  works 
deal  specifically  with  German  emigration.  There  are,  however, 
many  isolated  German  characters  to  be  found  throughout  Ger 
stacker's  other  transatlantic  novels. 

Gerstacker  knew  how  to  exploit  the  rich  experiences  of  his  ex 
tensive  travels  to  the  best  advantage.  Further,  he  was  endowed  with 
acute  powers  of  observation,  a  glowing  imagination,  and  a  talent 
for  plastic  description  and  vivid  narrative,  with  which  he  retained 
the  attention  of  the  reader  from  beginning  to  end.  His  works  lack 
form,  however;  they  are  frequently  but  a  series  of  sketches.  Nor 
is  the  author  capable  of  depicting  the  deep  surges  of  emotion  which 
characterize  his  predecessor  Sealsfield.  The  importance  of  Ger 
stacker  for  us  here  lies  in  his  endeavors  to  portray  in  fiction  an  im 
portant  period  in  the  history  of  German  emigration  to  America. 

No  writer  of  exotic  novels  has  more  exclusively  dealt  with 
North  American  material  than  Friedrich  Armand  Strubberg.  In 
nearly  all  of  his  novels  Strubberg  has  introduced  German  immi 
grants.  To  be  sure  they  play  only  a  very  minor  part  in  some  of  his 
works.  In  not  a  few,  however,  emigration  is  an  important  element, 
and  in  several  it  is  made  the  chief  feature.  Strubberg  had  in  reality 
but  one  great- theme,  his  own  life  on  the  extreme  frontier  of  Texas. 
It  is  not  surprising  then  to  find  a  great  number  of  his  works  auto 
biographic.  Amerikanische  Jagd-  und  Reiseabenteuer  is  devoted 
to  those  years  when  the  author  and  his  three  German  companions 
lived  on  the  banks  of  the  Leona.  Bis  in  die  Wildniss  ( 1858) )  depicts 
Strubberg's  life  before  he  settled  on  the  frontier.  The  time  of 


28  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

An  der  Indianer-Grenze  oder  Treiier  Liebe  Lohn  (1859)  is  a  few 
years  later  when  Strubberg  had  been  overtaken  in  his  remote  fron 
tier  home  by  encroaching  civilization.  A  us  Armands  Frontierleben 
(1868)  further  reflects  the  author's  clays  as  a  frontiersman  in 
Texas.  These  four  works  are  interesting  documents  of  the  west 
ward  course  of  a  great  nation.  To  a  lesser  degree  autobiographic  are 
Ralph  Norwood  (1860),  Sklaverei  in  Amerika  oder  Schwarzes 
Blut  (1862),  Der  Krosus  von  Philadelphia  (1870),  Die  alte  span- 
ische  Urkunde  (1872)  in  all  of  which  Strubberg  himself  appears 
under  an  assumed  name,  though  playing  very  subordinate  parts.  In 
the  novel  In  Mexico  (1865)  the  main  male  character  is  the  young 
German  artist  Lothar  von  Colmar.  In  Sud-Karolina  und  auf  dem 
Schlachtfelde  von  Langensalza  (1869)  we  follow  the  career  of  Wall- 
stein,  a  young  German  enthusiast  for  the  American  republic  who 
crosses  the  Atlantic  to  serve  in  the  Civil  War.  His  unpleasant 
experiences,  and  his  ideas  of  the  republic  and  on  slavery,  form  an 
interesting  part  of  the  novel.  In  the  author's  last  work  Vornehm 
und  Burge'rlich  (1878)  is  described  the  emigration  of  a  few  demo 
cratic-minded  Germans  to  America,  their  many  hardships,  and 
their  final  settlement  on  the  Ohio,  near  Cincinnati,  where  they 
plant  large  vineyards,  make  wine,  prosper,  and  become  prominent 
citizens — biirgerlich  und  doch  vornehm ! 

Strubberg's  greatest  contribution  to  the  emigration  novel  is 
his  portrayal  of  one  of  the  darkest  periods  in  the  history  of  the 
state  of  Texas :  the  planting  of  German  colonies  in  Texas  by  the 
"Mainzer  Adelsverein"  through  whose  misdirected  efforts  thou 
sands  of  Germans  suffered  untold  miseries  and  hundreds  died  a 
wretched  death.  This  period  has  received  the  attention  of  historians 
but  it  remained  for  Strubberg  to  give  the  struggles  and  sufferings  of 
these  rugged  German  pioneers  a  place  in  literature.  In  1859  ap 
peared  Alte  und  neue  Heimath.  As  a  novel  it  is  one  of  Strubberg's 
most  readable  works.  As  a  cultural  document  it  is  invaluable.  In 
November,  1884,  the  first  ship  with  immigrants  sent  by  the  "Verein" 
had  arrived ;  soon  thereafter  came  two  others,  bringing  in  all  about 
seven  hundred  people.  Late  in  1845,  f°ur  thousand  three  hundred 
and  four  more  arrived.  The  immigrants  of  1844  could  not  be  con 
veyed  at  once  to  the  lands  proposed.  They  were  obliged  to  camp 
on  the  coast,  and  only  after  some  time  transported  to  the  interior, 
where  the  town  of  Neu-Braunfels  was  founded.  Those  of  1845 
fared  even  worse.  Transportation  was  made  practically  impossible 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  29 

through  the  fact  that  nearly  all  vehicles  had  been  called  into  service 
by  the  American  army  for  the  Mexican  war.  They  were  obliged  to 
camp  on  the  coast  in  wretched  shelter  with  only  the  poorest  food. 
The  winter  was  a  severe  one,  disease  spread,  and  hundreds  died. 
Strubberg  has  taken  for  his  subject  the  hardships  of  the  first  arrival 
of  immigrants,  but  he  has  apparently  drawn  on  the  incidents  con 
nected  with  the  combined  arrivals  of  1844  and  1845.  The  author 
was  at  this  time  in  all  probability  living  in  the  interior  of  Texas.  He 
was  only  called  to  Friedrichsburg  as  colonial  director  in  1846.  He 
was  therefore  not  acquainted  with  his  material  at  first  hand,  but  he 
had  beyond  a  doubt  abundant  opportunity  later  to  hear  the  immi 
grants  relate  their  wanderings  from  the  coast  to  the  interior.  In 
Friedrichsburg,  die  Colonie  des  dentschen  F  \\rsten-Vere-\ns  in  Texas 
(  1867)  Strubberg  has  devoted  himself  in  particular  to  the  life 
of  the  colony  during  its  early  period  when  he  himself  was  active 
there  as  director.  Emigration  to  Texas  is  further  reflected  in  Carl 
Scharnhorst  (1863),  Die  Fiirstentochter  (1872),  and  Die  geraubten 
Kinder  (1875). 

That  this  great  mass  of  emigration  fiction  found  a  ready  market 
testifies  to  the  exceeding  popularity  of  this  class  of  fiction.  The 
demand  for  such  literature  is  easily  explained  when  we  remember 
that  there  was  hardly  a  family,  even  in  the  remoter  villages  of 
Germany  which  did  not  have  a  member,  friend,  or  relative  seeking 
his  fortune  in  America.  Nor  was  the  popularity  of  the  trans 
atlantic  novel  confined  to  the  lower  classes.  We  need  only  to  look 
into  the  newspapers  and  periodicals  of  the  fifties  and  sixties  to 
discover  the  important  place  such  literature  occupied.  The  well 
known  weekly  Uber  Land  und  Meer,  founded  in  1858  by  the  novelist 
F.  W.  Hackliinder  is  especially  rich  in  tales  and  novelettes  dealing 
with  America.  The  Sonntagsblatt,  founded  by  the  novelist  Ruppius 
in  1863,  besides  publishing  much  from  the  pen  of  Ruppius  himself, 
printed  a  great  number  of  emigration  stories.  The  Gartenlaube,  the 
most  popular  periodical  of  the  time  contains  much  from  the  pens  of 
Gerstacker  and  other  writers  of  exotic  fiction. 

In  spite  of  this  great  mass  of  emigration  fiction  the  demand  for 
the  same  seems  to  have  continued.  There  were  other  writers  of 
emigration  novels  who  also  found  a  ready  sale  for  their  works. 
Like  the  group  considered  above,  they  had  also  been  in  America; 
some  had  fled  thither  to  escape  persecution  at  home.  Unlike  those, 
they  did  not  confine  themselves  in  their  literary  activities  to  material 


30  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

relating  to  America.  They  had,  however,  written  emigration  fiction 
which  was  once  widely  read  and  which  set  them  on  a  plane  of 
popularity  with  the  above  group.  For  that  reason  they  deserve  our 
attention  here. 

Karl  Theodor  Griesinger  (1809-1884),  no  longer  contented 
with  the  conditions  at  home,  emigrated  to  America  with  his  family 
in  1852.  His  earliest  work  on  America,  published  soon  upon  his 
return  again  to  Germany  is  Lebende  Bilder  aus  Amerika  (1858). 
This  was  followed  by  Emigrantengeschichten  (1858),  two  volumes 
of  extremely  interesting  and  realistic  tales.  They  describe  i'n  a 
simple  style  the  conditions  of  German  emigrants  who  have  not  yet 
acquainted  themselves  with  the  conditions  of  life  in  America.  These 
six  stories  illustrate  the  American  motto :  God  helps  those  who 
help  themselves!  The  best  ones  are  probably  Zwei  Weiber  und 
falsch  Geld,  French  Louis  der  Loaferkonig,  and  Germania  in 
Amerika.  The  last  pictures  the  joys  and  sorrows  of  a  German 
colony,  whose  members,  on  account  of  their  idealistic  tendencies, 
and  their  lack  of  practicality  and  organizing  power,  suffer  many 
hardships.  Freiheit  und  Sklaverei  unter  dem  Sternenbanner,  oder 
Land  und  Leute  in  Amerika  (1862)  is  a  work  which  tended  to  dis 
courage  emigration.  It  presents  the  dark  sides  of  American  life 
with  a  merciless  pen. 

Adalbert  Graf  von  Baudissin  (1820-1871),  who  spent  ten  years 
in  America,  published  upon  his  return  to  Germany  in  1862  a  work 
which  went  through  several  editions  and  gave  the  author  a  promi 
nent  place  as  a  German  humorist.  Peter  Tiitt.  Zustande  in  Amerika 
is  written  in  a  delightfully  humorous  vein  but  it  bears  evidence  that 
its  author,  like  Griesinger  in  Land  und  Leute  desires  to  discourage 
emigration  by  frankly  and  impartially  revealing  the  darker  sides  of 
the  young  republic.  In  the  introduction  the  author  expresses  his 
intentions  of  having  the  book  serve  as  a  reaction  against  republican 
enthusiasm  in  Germany.  Baudissin's  next  work  Huben  und  Drilben 
(1862)  also  brought  forth  favorable  comment.  It  relates  the  career 
of  a  young  nobleman  who  has  made  a  mesalliance,  upon  which  he 
goes  to  America.  Here  he  lives  the  life  of  a  common  man,  is  suc 
cessful  financially,  returns  to  Germany  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Schles- 
wig-Holstein  war,  marries  his  early  love  of  low  degree  and  lives 
happily. 

Karl  Friedrich  von  Wickede  (1821-1881),  who  led  a  most 
varied  life  in  America  for  many  years,  wrote  upon  his  return  to 


Baldnin  M'ollluniscn,   The  (icrnmn  Cooper  31 

Germany  two  series  of  short  stories  which  were  much  admired  and 
which  have  found  a  place  in  Reclams  Univfrsal-BibKothek.  The 
Amerikanische  Novellen  appeared  in  1878  and  were  followed  by  a 
Neue  Folge  in  1879.  These  series  consist  of  delightfully  written 
tales,  a  number  of  which  are  built  on  episodes  of  the  Civil  War.  In 
Ein  New-Yorker  Spielhaus  and  Ein  deutscher  fndustrieritter  in 
der  Fretnde  the  author  has  employed  German  characters. 

A  writer  whom  America  can  be  proud  to  place  among  her  list 
of  distinguished  Germans  is  Therese  Robinson,  better  known  by  her 
pseudonym  Talvj,  formed  from  the  initials  of  her  full  name,  Therese 
Albertine  Louise  von  Jacob  (1797-1870).  Among  the  women  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  perhaps  only  Margaret  Fuller  deserves  to  be 
compared  with  her  for  range  of  learning.  As  the  wife  of  the  Ameri 
can  theologian,  Edward  Robinson,  she  lived  in  America  almost  con 
tinuously  from  1828  to  1864.  Her  home  in  New  York  was  open  to 
strangers  of  all  lands,  but  especially  so  to  the  German  immigrant. 
Talvj  was  a  woman  of  many  interests  and  her  literary  activity  was 
therefore  very  varied.  One  of  her  most  interesting  works  is  her 
novel  Die  Ansivanderer.  Eine  Ercahlung  (1852).  The  authoress 
had  first  written  it  in  English  and  published  it  under  the  title 
The  Exiles  in  1851.  In  the  introduction  she  sets  forth  her  inten 
tion  of  giving  the  world  a  series  of  American  scenes  such  as  she 
herself  had  witnessed  during  her  long  stay  in  America.  The 
pleasure-seeker,  the  religious  enthusiast,  the  Cavalier,  the  farmer, 
the  philanthropist,  the  Pharisee,  and  other  national  characters  were 
to  be  portrayed.  The  influence  of  Methodism  is  traced  out.  Poli 
tics  has  been  intentionally  avoided,  except  where  it  was  impossible 
to  do  so.  Die  Auswanderer  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  of  the 
emigration  novels  and  one  of  the  few  produced  on  American  soil. 

Reinhold  Solger  (1820-1866),  another  distinguished  German- 
American,  published  in  1862  the  novel  Anton  in  Amerika.  Seiten- 
stiick  zu  Freytag's  "Soil  und  Haben".  Aus  dem  deutsch-omerika- 
nischen  Leben.  This  is  one  of  the  most  notable  German-American 
productions  and  caused  considerable  comment  in  Germany.  Das 
belletristische  Journal  of  New  York  had  offered  a  prize  for  the  best 
German  novel  on  German-American  life,  appointing  as  judges 
these  three  German-American  literary  men:  Friedrich  Kapp,  Wil- 
helm  Aufermann,  and  Dr.  Karl  Dilthey.  Anton  was  chosen  from 
among  a  number  of  other  novels  offered.  The  judges  in  their 
letter  to  the  Journal  concerning  their  decision  said  of  it :  "Von  der 


32  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

ersten  Zeile  wird  es  dem  Leser  klar,  dass  er  es  hier  mit  einem  iiber- 
legnen  Geiste  zu  thun  hat,  der  nicht  nur  als  Mann  von  Welt  in  den 
beiderseitigen  Ausserlichkeiten  des  deutsh-amer.  Lebens  vollkom- 
men  zu  Hause  ist,  sondern  sich  auch  in  dessen  psychologischen 
Tiefen  mit  souveraner  Sicherheit  bewegt,  wahrend  er  zugleich  sei- 
nen  Gegenstand  von  der  Hohe  des  Kulturhistorischen  Standpunktes 

aus  iibersieht Sie  haben  durch  Ihre  Aufforderung 

Arbeiten  ans  Licht  gefordert,  wodurch  sich  die  deutsch-amer. 
Novellenliteratur  der  vaterlandischen  wiirdig  an  die  Seite  stellt."12 
This  novel  is  in  a  measure  a  continuation  of  Freytag's  Soil  und 
Haben.  Freytag's  character  is  brought  to  America  and  there  enters 
upon  a  varied  career.  The  characters  bear  vestiges  of  being  taken 
from  actual  life. 

In  addition  to  the  works  of  these  writers,  who  as  we  have  seen, 
had  more  or  less  identified  themselves  with  America,  there  are  of 
course  numbers  of  other  more  isolated  works  which  have  for  their 
theme  the  Germans  in  America.13  There  are  also  scattered  through 
out  the  Greman  periodicals  of  the  fifties  and  sixties  a  great  many 
pieces  of  fiction  which  reflect  various  interesting  phases  of  German 
culture  in  America. 

There  remain  to  be  considered  a  few  noteworthy  productions 
which,  though  written  under  circumstances  different  from  those  of 
most  other  emigration  novels,  deserve  to  be  classed  with  them. 
They  were  written  by  men  who  had  never  seen  America.  How 
ever,  we  need  not  marvel  at  their  truthful  portrayal  of  life  in 
America  when  we  recall  how  easily  accessible  such  material  was 
in  the  periodicals,  the  emigration  journals,  and  the  books  of  travel 
of  the  period. 

A  novel  which  has  been  of  special  interest  to  the  German- Ameri 
cans  and  which  has  been  the  object  of  considerable  critical  investi 
gation  is  Kiirnberger's  Der  Amerikamude  (1856),  which  first 


12  See  Magazin  fur  die  Literatur  des  Auslandes.     28.  Jan.,  1863. 

"The  following  have  come  to  my  notice:  Das  Auswandern.  Eine  Er- 
zahlung.  1848.  See  Neueste  V  olksbibliothek ;  Die  Ausgewanderten  und  der 
Indianer.  Ed.  v.  Ambach.  1854;  Die  Auswanderer  (?).  Fr.  Hoffman;  Die 
Hamburger  in  Amerika.  Romantisch-poHtisches  Gemalde,  etc.  Moritz 
Reichenbach.  1864;  Amer.  Lebensbilder,  oder  Erlebnisse  deutscher  Auswan- 
derer  in  Amerika.  Luise  Weil.  1865;  Mein  Onkel  Fischer  in  Baltimore. 
Pub.  in  Steiger's  Deutsch-amer.  Bibliothek.  Karl  Dilthey.  1872;  In  der 
Frcmde.  Eine  Volksgeschichte  fur  Auswanderungslustige.  Dietr.  Theden. 
Leipzig  u.  Berlin.  1883;  Aus  Kleindeutschland  (Skizzen  a.  d.  deutsch-amer. 
Leben).  A.  Zapp.  1886;  Der  junge  Auswanderer.  K.  Miiller.  1887-89. 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  33 

appeared  as  Vol.  8  of  the  Deutsche  Bibliotlitk.  The  title  is  a  re 
actionary  one  against  Willkomm's  Die  Europamiidcn,  a  term  which 
had  since  the  writing  of  the  latter  work  in  1837,  become  a  byword 
throughout  Germany.  The  works  of  Griesinger  and  Baudissin 
already  contain  an  undertone  of  discontent  concerning  American 
affairs,  but  Kurnberger's  novel  was  by  far  the  bitterest  invective 
against  German  enthusiasm  for  America  that  had  appeared  since 
the  word  "Europamiide"  came  into  vogue.  Kiirnberger  (1823- 
1879)  describes  the  fortunes  of  a  young  German  poet  who  has 
come  to  America  where  he  had  hoped  to  find  everything  superior 
to  that  in  the  old  world,  but  finds  on  the  contrary  only  conceit, 
bragging,  lack  of  refinement,  and  corruption.  He  soon  tires  and  is 
glad  to  return  again  to  Germany.  The  work  was  at  the  time  of  its 
publication  considered  a  faithful  portrayal  of  life  in  America.  To 
the  American  of  today  there  are  many  features  which  appear  glar 
ingly  exaggerated  and  unjust.  The  novel  has  perhaps  received  more 
than  its  share  of  prominence  due  to  the  belief  that  Kurnberger  has 
portrayed  in  it  the  poet  Lenau  and  his  unfortunate  experiences  in 
America.  Investigations  now  point  out  that  only  very  late  in  the 
developing  of  the  novel  did  the  author  vest  his  hero  with  a  few 
external  features  of  the  unhappy  Lenau.14 

Another  noteworthy  novel  is  Friedrich  Spielhagen's  Deutsche 
Pioniere.  Eine  Geschichte  aus  dem  vorigen  Jahrhundert  (1871). 
The  great  German  novelist  had  never  been  in  America.  He  took 
a  keen  interest  in  American  affairs,  however,  followed  the  activities 
of  the  German  immigrants  there,  and  studied  American  literature. 
The  novelette,  Die  schonen  Amerikanerinnen  (1868),  and  the  ex 
cellent  preface  to  his  Amerikanische  Gedichte  (1872),  translations 
of  American  poetry,  bear  testimony  of  this  interest.  The  author  has 
employed  an  early  phase  of  German  emigration  in  his  Deutsche 
Pioniere,  that  of  German  colonization  in  the  valley  of  the  Mohawk, 
along  the  Canada  and  the  Schoharie,  about  the  middle  of  the  eight 
eenth  century.  Spielhagen  shows  how  these  early  German  pioneers 
had  to  contend  with  their  unfriendly  neighbors,  the  English  and 
the  Dutch,  and,  being  unsuccessful  were  finally  obliged  to  seek  the 


"Cf.  G.  A.    Mulhnger:    Ferd.  Kiirnbcrgers  Roman   "Der  Amerikamude.' 
German  American  Annals.  Vol.  I. 


34  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

frontier  ,of  New  York  where  they  were  at  the  mercy  of  the  French 
and  the  Indians.  They  had  fled  from  tyranny  and  disunity  at  home 
only  to  find  the  same  in  the  new  world.  Deutsche  Pioniere  is  dedi 
cated  to  Friedrich  Kapp,  "dem  griindlichen  Forscher,  dem  geist- 
reichen  Darsteller  des  Deutschtums  in  Amerika". 

Berthold  Auerbach  (1812-1882)  reflects  German  emigration 
in  Das  Landhaus  am  Rhein  (1869)  in  which  Herr  Sonnenkamp, 
about  whom  the  novel  turns,  had  migrated  to  America,  and  be 
come  a  slave-trader  and  millionaire.  He  returns  to  Germany  and 
builds  a  splendid  villa  on  the  Rhine.  He  endeavors  to  hide  his  past 
in  order  that  he  may  gain  entrance  to  German  aristocracy.  His 
past  life  is  discovered  and  he  again  returns  to  America  where  he 
fights  in  the  Confederate  army  and  dies. 

Theodor  Storm  (1817-1888)  in  his  charming  novelette  Von 
jenseit  des  Meeres  (1867)  portrays  the  soul-conflicts  of  Jenni,  the 
daughter  of  a  German  planter  in  the  West  Indies  by  a  colored 
woman.  The  child  is  early  torn  from  her  socially  impossible  mother 
and  brought  to  Germany  where  she  developes  into  a  cultured  young 
lady.  As  she  grows  to  womanhood  her  instincts  demand  the  love 
of  a  mother  of  whom  she  has  been  robbed.  One  day  Sealsfield's 
novel  Pflanzerleben  comes  to  her  hands  and  through  it  she  learns 
fully  to  realize  her  own  situation  and  that  of  the  colored  race  of 
which  she  is  a  part.  She  escapes  from  her  wealthy  father  to  join  her 
mother  in  St.  Croix,  but  finds  her  father's  once  beautiful  mistress 
now  become  only  a  coarse  old  negress.  Jenni's  European  culture 
prevails  against  her  instincts  toward  her  mother  and  she  returns  to 
Germany. 

Wilhelm  Schroder's  (1808-1878)  Schneider  Piepenbrinks  Jagd 
auf  'nen  Buff  el  in  der  amerikanischen  Prairie  takes  rank  among 
Germany's  choicest  tales  of  humor.  It  is  the  story  of  Hans  Peter 
Piepenbrink,  a  naive  tailor  apprentice  who  went  about  making 
revolutionary  speeches  in  1847.  Hans  is  imprisoned  consequently 
but  escapes  to  America  where  he  takes  a  position  as  tailor  with  a 
western  fur  company  and  prospers. 

The  above  is  a  brief  consideration  of  that  great  wave  of  emi 
gration  fiction  which  flooded  the  remotest  recesses  of  Germany.  It 
had  given  expression  to  much  that  lay  deep  in  the  hearts  of  the 
German  people.  Who  shall  say  that  the  present  German's  keen 
interest  in  and  sympathy  with  the  great  republic  beyond  the  Atlan 
tic  was  not  fostered  by  the  Emigration  Novel? 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  35 

With  the  creation  of  the  new  German  Empire  in  1871,  and  its 
resultant  prosperity,  that  interest  which  the  Germans  had  so  long 
had  in  America  gradually  waned.  In  the  development  of  a  larger 
national  consciousness  the  attention  of  the  Germans  was  drawn 
away  from  America  and  directed  to  the  colonies  in  Africa.  The 
once  so  popular  Indian  story  was  now  being  displaced  by  tales  which 
depicted  colonial  life  in  Germany's  own  new  possessions.  A  great 
deal  of  Indian  literature  nevertheless  continued  to  appear,  but  it 
made  its  appeal  to  a  different  type  of  reader.  Much  of  it  must  be 
classed  as  juvenile  literature  whose  authors  speculated  upon  the 
adventure-loving  period  of  adolescence.  In  many  of  these  works 
the  cultural  and  ethnographic  material  is  rather  incidental  and  a 
gaudy,  sensational  story  receives  the  main  consideration.  With  the 
increasing  prosperity  of  a  united  Germany  and  the  growth  of  its 
African  colonies  many  of  the  causes  for  German  emigration  to 
America  had  ceased,  and  with  the  great  decrease  in  emigration, 
emigration  fiction  also  grew  out  of  fashion. 

For  more  than  half  a  century  Indian  and  emigration  fiction 
represented  no  mean  portion  of  the  entire  output  of  German  fiction. 
These  two  types  of  fiction  may,  from  the  standpoint  of  some  his 
torians  of  German  literature,  continue  to  be  considered  as  only 
insignificant  undercurrents  in  the  great  stream  of  German  novelistic 
literature.  It  is  true  that  this  fiction  was  written  by  men  who  were 
in  many  instances  but  poorly  schooled  in  literary  art,  and  is  therefore 
only  too  often  without  form.  Most  of  these  men  had,  however,  lived 
lives  freed  from  the  convention  and  artificiality  of  the  old  culture 
of  Europe.  They  have  in  consequence  bequeathed  to  German  fic 
tion  a  rich  legacy  of  healthy  realism,  a  keen  appreciation  of  nature, 
a  spirt  of  democracy,  and  a  more  normal,  though  often  uncouth, 
love  of  life  in  its  full  round  of  activities.  These  works  present  to 
us  of  today  an  interesting  chapter  in  the  cultural  history  of  America, 
huge  frescoes,  so  to  speak,  of  the  great  struggle  of  the  nations 
towards  the  unclaimed  West,  lurid  perhaps  and  unrefined  in  color, 
but  epical  in  character  and  action,  pulsating  with  that  elemental 
vigor  of  life  which  was  to  build  up  the  greatest  republic  in  the 
history  of  the  world. 

This  chapter  on  "America  in  German  Fiction"  is  to  serve  as 
an  introduction  to  a  German  novelist  who  is  a  representative  of  both 
Indian  and  emigration  fiction,  but  who,  for  reasons  sufficiently 


36  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

obvious,  was  left  unmentioned  in  the  above  consideration.  Balduin 
Mollhausen  was  the  most  prolific,  and  at  the  same  time  the  last 
great  exponent  of  transatlantic  fiction  in  Germany.  He  did  not  write 
with  the  passionate  pen  of  Sealsfield ;  he  did  not  give  the  Indian  so 
prominent  a  place  in  his  novels  as  Strubberg  did,  nor  did  he  paint 
western  scenery  with  the  latter's  lurid  brush ;  he  may  lack  Ger- 
stacker's  facile  style  of  narrative ;  but  in  point  of  form,  and  in  the 
skillful  motivation  of  a  plot  he  is  the  master  of  all  these.  There  is 
no  German  writer  who  has,  in  the  course  of  his  many  novels,  so 
artistically  depicted  the  varied  phases  of  our  American  life,  and 
especially  so  the  motley  racial  conflicts  which  were  enacted  on  the 
frontier  of  the  young  republic  in  its  forward  march  toward  the  West. 
In  view  of  his  splendid  portrayals  of  Indian  and  pioneer  life,  and 
by  virtue  of  the  high  character  of  his  sea-novels,  there  is  none  who 
deserves  so  much  the  title  of  "The  German  Cooper".  The  follow 
ing  pages  are  devoted  to  a  consideration  of  the  life  and  works  of 
Balduin  Mollhausen. 


MOLLHAUSEN    AS    A    HUNTER    IN    WESTERN 

AMERICA   IN    1854 


CHAPTER  II 
fin.  BIOGRAPHY  OK  MOLLHAUSEN 

Heinrich  Balduin  Mollhausen  was  born  January  27,  1825.  At 
the  time  of  his  birth  the  parents  dwelt  upon  the  "Jesuitenhof",  a 
small  estate  on  the  Rhine  near  Bonn.  His  father,  Heinrich  Moll 
hausen,  had  formerly  been  stationed  at  Cologne  as  a  Prussian  ar 
tillery  officer,  but  later  practiced  the  profession  of  a  civil  engineer.1 
His  mother,  Elisabeth  Baronesse  von  Falkenstein,  had,  in  the  esti 
mation  of  her  relatives,  brought  little  credit  upon  herself  by  marry 
ing  Heinrich  Mollhausen.  The  latter  was  a  very  active  and  enter 
prising  man,  but  of  a  restless  and  wandering  disposition.  He 
possessed  an  uncontrollable  desire  for  collecting  copper  engravings, 
which  led  him  to  squander  the  larger  part  of  his  income,  leaving  the 
family  in  pecuniary  embarrassment.  Upon  the  early  death  of  his 
wife,  Heinrich  Mollhausen  seems  more  than  ever  to  have  yielded 
to  his  restless  temperament.  He  was  last  engaged  in  the  building 
of  the  first  railroad  in  Greece,  during  which  time  he  was  overtaken 
by  death  and  buried  in  Odessa. 

Of  the  five  children,  two  had  died  in  early  infancy.  Heinrich 
Balduin  (later  commonly  known  as  Balduin),  the  eldest  of  the 
remaining  children,  with  Gustav,  and  Louisa  were  placed  under  the 
guardianship  of  Graf  Krassow.  The  rearing  of  the  children  was 
largely  in  the  hands  of  an  aunt,  Fraulein  Adelheid  von  Falkenstein 
who  had  settled  at  Waren  in  Mecklenburg,  and  there  established 
a  school.  Here  in  Mecklenburg  Balduin's  earliest  days  were  ap 
parently  spent.  Later,  however,  he  was  placed  in  the  gymnasium 
in  Bonn  where  he  remained  until  his  fourteenth  year.  Unfortu 
nately  want  of  means  did  not  allow  him  to  enter  the  university. 
His  relatives  were  of  the  opinion  that  the  lad  would  not  distinguish 


*  According   to   ancient   chronicles,   one    of    his    ancestors    fought   at 
nna  and   Pavia  as   Mellhausen,   another   in   the   Thirty   Years'   War, 


Ra 

venna  and  Pavia  as  Mellhausen,  another  in  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  and 
still  another,  a  captain  of  cavalry,  fell  at  Torgau  in  the  Seven  Years'  War. 
Heinrich  Mollhausen  himself  had  in  his  youth  served  in  the  Wars  of  the 
Liberation  as  a  volunteer  in  Lutzow's  Corps.  Cf.  Die  Osterreichischen  Rilter- 
Orden.  Band  I.  1898.  Hrsg.  anlasslich  des  50  jahrigen  Herrscher-Jubilaums 
Seiner  Majestat  des  Kaisers,  Franz  Joseph  I.  unter  gefalliger  Mitarbeiter- 
schaft  zahlreicher  Ordensritter,  von  der  Verlags-Anstalt  "Universum." 


38  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

himself  in  an  academic  career.  From  his  father  he  had  inherited 
an  artistic  bent  which  was  early  directed  toward  painting.  Here, 
too,  further  education  was  denied  him  and  he  was  sent  by  his 
relatives  to  Pomerania  where  he  was  to  take  up  agriculture.  Here 
he  remained  until  1846,  when  he  entered  upon  his  year  of  military 
service  in  Stralsund.  Upon  the  suggestion  of  his  guardian,  Graf 
Krassow,  young  Mollhausen  went  to  Vienna  with  the  intention  of 
becoming  an  officer  in  the  Austrian  army,  but  soon  returned  again, 
having  learned  that  his  means  did  not  permit  him  to  enter  upon 
a  military  career.  During  the  Revolution  of  1848  he  was  levied 
and  quartered  for  some  time  in  Schloss  Monbijou,  Berlin,  from 
which  he  often  marched  forth  to  stand  guard  before  the  mansion 
of  Alexander  von  Humboldt,  who  was  a  little  later  to  take  such 
kindly  interest  in  the  young  man.  The  political  unrest  during  these 
years,  at  which  time  he  was  frequently  called  into  irksome  military 
service,  together  with  a  restlessness  and  an  irresistible  longing  for 
life  in  a  freer  and  more  primitive  atmosphere,  probably  inherited 
in  part  from  his  restless  father,  caused  him  to  go  to  America, 
whither  the  eyes  of  so  many  of  his  countrymen  were  directed  and 
where  so  many  had  already  found  refuge. 

In  the  fall  of  1849  Balduin  Mollhausen  sailed  for  America  with 
600  Thaler  in  his  pocket,  having  left  the  military  service  as  a 
subaltern  "with  the  most  honorable  testimonials  from  his  superior 
officers".2  Mollhausen  wandered  to  the  Middle  West  and  for  a 
time  led  the  roving  life  of  a  hunter  in  the  region  of  the  Kaskaskia 
river  in  southwestern  Illinois.  For  a  time  too  he  seems  to  have 
found  employment  as  a  sign-painter.  In  Belleville,  Illinois,  he  be 
came  acquainted  with  a  certain  Mr.  Winkel  who  was  a  court- 
clerk.  Having  resigned  this  position  for  that  of  bookkeeper  in  a 
large  mercantile  house,  Mr.  Winkel  advised  Mollhausen  to  apply 
for  his  former  position.  For  several  months  Mollhausen  appears 
to  have  filled  this  position,  availing  himself  of  the  opportunity  to 
further  his  knowledge  of  the  English  language.  But  an  unconquer 
able  "Drang"  toward  a  freer  life  did  not  permit  him  long  to  con 
tinue  in  this  capacity.  A  few  months  later  we  find  him  wandering 
with  a  gun  upon  his  shoulders  in  the  lands  of  his  dreams,  the  western 
prairies. 


2  See  Alexander  von  Humboldt's   Introduction  to  Mollhausen's   Tagebuch 
einer  Reise  vom  Mississippi  nach  den  Kiislen  der  Sildsee.    Leipzig.  1858. 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  39 

Near  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi  Mollhausen  chanced  to  hear 
of  the  scientific  expedition  which  Duke  Paul  William  of  Wiirttem- 
berg1  was  about  to  make  to  the  Rocky  Mountains.  He  was  eager  to 
join  the  expedition  of  so  eminent  a  traveller,  and  his  request  to  do 
so  was  graciously  granted  him  by  the  Duke. 

The  party  journeyed  westward  to  Fort  Laramie  on  the  Platte 
river  without  much  delay.  Here  the  repeated  attacks  of  Indians, 
the  death  of  a  great  number  of  horses  which  were  indispensable  for 
the  continuation  of  the  journey,  and  an  affection  of  the  eyes  of  the 
men  due  to  the  snow,  forced  the  Duke  to  discontinue  his  plans  for 
the  time.4  Late  in  the  autumn  of  1851  we  find  the  Duke  and 
Mollhausen  as  his  only  companion  making  their  way  back  to  the 
Missouri.5  The  Duke  drove  in  a  vehicle  drawn  by  two  horses, 
while  Mollhausen  rode  on  a  horse,  having  in  addition,  charge  of  a 
mule.  Once,  on  crossing  the  Platte  river,  the  wagon  of  the  Duke 
got  into  drifting  sands  and  could  not  be  moved.  A  band  of  Oglalas 
was  about  to  relieve  them  of  all  their  sugar  and  coffee  when  the 
U.  S.  mail-coach  returning  from  Fort  Laramie  appeared  upon  the 
scene  and  aided  them.  They  now  continued  their  course  on  the 


*  Friedrich  Paul  Wilhelm,  Herzog  von  Wiirttemberg,  was  born  in  Karls 
ruhe,  Silesia,  July  25,  1797,  and  died  at  Mergentheim,  November  25,  1860. 
After  serving  for  some  time  in  the  armies  of  Prussia  and  Wiirttemberg  (he 
had  attained  to  the  rank  of  Major-General  in  the  latter)  he  devoted  himself 
exclusively  to  the  natural  sciences  and  to  exploration.  He  was  one  of  the 
foremost  travellers  and  explorers  of  his  day.  From  October,  1822,  to  Decem 
ber,  1824,  he  travelled  in  the  valleys  of  the  Mississippi,  Ohio  and  Missouri, 
concerning  which  travels  he  published  an  account  in  the  form  of  a  diary 
(Stuttgart  1835).  From  1829  to  1832  he  was  in  northern  Mexico,  and  the 
bordering  territory  of  the  United  States.  Also  he  gave  some  time  to  the 
study  of  the  islands  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  From  September,  1839,  to  August, 
1840,  he  was  attached  to  the  military  expedition  undertaken  by  the  Viceroy 
of  Egypt  into  some  of  the  unexplored  regions  of  the  upper  Nile.  In  the 
spring  of  1849  he  again  went  to  America  and  remained  there  until  1856,  mak 
ing  various  journeys  from  the  northwestern  parts  of  the  United  States  and 
Canada  to  the  Magellan  Straits.  In  1857  he  travelled  once  more  m  the  valley 
of  the  Mississippi.  In  1827  he  had  married  Princess  Sophie  von  Thurn  und 
Taxis.  Through  this  marriage  he  acquired  Schloss  Mergentheim  as  a  dwelling- 
seat.  Here  he  arranged  his  collections  of  objects  of  natural  history  and 
ethnography.  These  were  unfortunately  scattered  after  his  death.  The 
University  of  Tubingen  had  given  Duke  Paul  a  doctorate  honoris  causa  in 
recognition  of  his  services  in  the  field  of  natural  history.  Cf.  A.  D.  B.  Bd.  25. 

*Cf.    Humboldt's  Introduction  to  Mollhausen's  Tagebuch  einer  Reise,  etc. 

'-  My  sources  for  the  details  of  this  journey  are  the  Tagebuch  einer  Reise 
rom  Mississippi  nach  den  Kilsten  der  Siidsee  (1858)  and  the  Reisen  in  dif 
Felsengcbirge  Nordamerikas  bis  sum  Hoch-Plateau  von  Neu-Mexico,  etc. 
(1861),  accounts  of  Mollhausen's  second  and  third  journeys  to  America 
respectively,  but  in  both  of  which  he  has  woven  accounts  of  his  journey 
with  Duke  Paul. 


4O  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

broad  emigrant  road  along  the  south  bank  of  the  Platte,  hoping  to 
reach  the  settlements  on  the  Missouri  before  the  snow-storms  set 
in.  Their  horses  were  fast  losing  strength,  the  grass  on  the  prairies 
having  been  gnawed  to  the  roots  by  the  buffaloes.  To  make  matters 
worse  they  were  overtaken  by  some  Kioways  who  killed  one  of  their 
horses.  Their  own  escape  was  due  to  the  accidental  discovery  of 
Mollhausen's  sketch-book  by  one  of  the  Indians.  The  many  sketches 
of  Indians  in  it  impressed  the  Kioways  as  works  of  magic.  They 
appropriated  the  sketch-book,  together  with  some  weapons,  and 
continued  on  their  way.  The  Duke  and  Mollhausen  finally  reached 
Fort  Kearney,  a  military  station  erected  by  the  U.  S.  government 
for  the  protection  of  emigrants.  Some  distance  further  they  lost 
two  of  their  animals  through  accident  and  cold  weather.  Also 
some  Pawnees  had  robbed  them  of  considerable  clothing  and  pro 
vision.  Under  great  difficulty  they  had  got  to  the  confluence  of 
Sandy  Hill  Creek  and  the  Big  Blue  river  where  they  found  a 
suitable  camping-place  and  hoped  to  remain  several  days  in  order 
to  refresh  themselves  physically  for  the  journey  which  remained. 
Here  they  passed  a  few  wretched  days  in  a  small  Indian  tent  which 
they  had  bought  from  a  fur  hunter  at  Fort  Laramie,  having  for 
food  only  some  bad  buffalo  meat,  and  some  rice  and  Indian  corn. 
A  fearful  snow-storm  set  in,  their  last  horse  succumbed  to  it,  the 
wolves  gathered  about  the  camp,  and  both  the  Duke  and  Mollhausen 
fell  ill.  *Such  was  their  condition  when  the  U.  S.  mail-coach,  on  its 
way  from  Fort  Kearney  to  the  Platte,  passed  by  and  offered  to  take 
one  of  them  along  while  the  other  should  remain  in  the  tent  with 
the  goods  till  horses  could  be  sent  from  the  Catholic  Mission  which 
the  coach  would  pass  eighty  or  a  hundred  miles  farther  on.  It  fell 
to  the  lot  of  Mollhausen  to  remain  alone  in  this  desolate  place.  He 
first  set  to  work  to  defend  himself  against  the  cold  and  the  drifting 
snow  by  raising  a  firm  wall  of  snow  about  his  tent  and  then  dragging 
a  quantity  of  wood  from  the  river  and  piling  it  before  the  entrance 
to  the  tent.  He  had  calculated  that  help  from  the  Mission  might 
be  expected  to  arrive  in  about  fourteen  days,  and  therefore  pro 
ceeded  to  divide  his  buffalo  meat,  rice,  coffee,  etc.,  into  fourteen 
parts.  The  only  sound  whch  came  to  him  in  the  loneliness  of  the 
first  night  was  the  howling  of  the  prairie  wolves.  "One  night  is 
got  through",  he  thought  the  following  morning  and  cut  a  notch  in 
one  of  the  tent-poles.  It  was  about  November  17,  and  he  consoled 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  41 

himself  with  the  thought  that  by  Christmas  he  might  be  safely  at  the 
mission ;  but  he  was  to  be  sadly  disappointed.  On  the  second  day 
some  horsemen  approached,  who,  on  coming  nearer,  proved  to  be 
Indians  returning  from  the  beaver  hunt  to  their  settlements  on  the 
Kansas.  Mollhausen  was  pleasantly  relieved  on  finding  himself  ad 
dressed  in  English  by  one  who  declared  himself  to  be  a  Delaware. 
The  Indian  tried  to  persuade  Mollhausen  to  abandon  the  goods  and 
accompany  him  to  his  wigwam  before  he  fell  a  victim  to  the  wolves 
and  wandering  Pawnees.  Also  he  declared  that  the  whites  would 
not  venture  forth  from  the  mission.  Mollhausen  persistently  re 
fused  to  accompany  the  Indian  and  regretted  it  much  afterwards. 
Fourteen  days  of  extreme  misery  had  passed  and  no  help  from 
the  mission  had  come.  He  had  been  forced  to  eat  of  the  flesh  of  the 
wolves  to  keep  him  from  starvation.  Hunger,  sleeplessness,  and 
cold  had  driven  him  to  take  of  the  laudanum  which,  with  some 
quinine,  made  up  the  medicine-chest  of  the  expedition.  With  con 
tinued  privation  and  suffering  the  first  days  of  January  had  come. 
Lying  one  day  in  his  tent  he  was  wakened  from  his  reveries  by  the 
Indian  salutation  Au-tarro-hau  (Holloa,  friend!).  Then,  with  the 
English  words,  "You  are  in  a  bad  case  here,  friend,"  a  dirty  Indian 
came  crawling  into  the  tent.  He  explained  that  his  father  had  been 
white  and  his  mother  red,  but  he  preferred  to  be  an  Indian.  Louis 
Farfar,  for  that  was  the  name  of  the  half-breed,  belonged  to  the 
Ottoes,  and  was  on  his  way  with  five  others  and  their  women,  to  the 
wigwams  at  Council  Bluffs.  The  Ottoes  were  friends  of  the  whites 
and  Mollhausen  yielded  to  their  invitation  to  accompany  them  to 
their  village  on  the  Missouri.  It  was  agreed  that  the  whole  party 
were  to  stop  at  Mollhausen's  tent  the  following  day  and  take  him 
and  his  goods  with  them.  Six  weeks  Mollhausen  had  lived  in  soli 
tude  on  the  prairie.  It  was  with  joyful  spirits,  therefore,  that  he 
joined  the  little  band  of  Ottoes  upon  the  following  morning.  During 
the  time  spent  with  these  hospitable  redskins  Mollhausen  had  learned 
much  concerning  their  modes  of  life,  which  was  to  serve  him  to 
good  purpose  in  his  later  life.  The  tall,  blond  Teuton  had  grown 
to  be  a  favorite  among  the  Ottoes.  Wakitamonee,  the  medicine 
man,  was  especially  fond  of  him,  and  wished  to  make  of  him  an 
Indian.  It  was  not  always  easy  for  Mollhausen  to  circumvent 
the  extreme  hospitality  shown  him.  It  was  only  through  skillful 
diplomacy  that  he  escaped  taking  two  of  the  medicine-man's  daugh 
ters  into  his  tent  as  squaws !  Mollhausen  and  the  Ottoes  had  been 


42  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

travelling  together  four  weeks  when  Louis  Farfar  informed  him 
that  they  would  probably  reach  the  Missouri  on  that  same  day  and 
that  efforts  would  be  made  to  further  him  immediately  to  the  little 
settlement  of  white  fur-traders  on  its  eastern  shore.  That  day  they 
came  to  three  wigwams  of  the  Ottoes  in  the  angle  of  the  Nebraska 
and  the  Missouri .  Here  Mollhausen  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  Mr. 
Martin  who  invited  him  to  his  log  house  on  the  other  side  of  the  river. 
The  little  wagon  with  his  goods  was  pushed  over  the  thick  ice  of  the 
Missouri,  and  that  evening  Mollhausen  found  himself  once  more 
by  the  fireside  of  white  people,  eating  bread  and  drinking  hot  punch. 
This  little  settlement  of  traders  was  called  Bethlehem.  Here  he 
spent  a  week,  recovering  from  his  strenuous  days  with  the  Indians 
and  having  some  new  garments  made,  of  which  he  was  sorely  in 
need.  He  had  heard  of  an  Omaha  village  twelve  miles  northward 
from  Bethlehem,  and  not  far  from  it  a  trading-post  of  the  St.  Louis 
Fur  Company,  an  Indian  Agency,  and  a  Presbyterian  Mission,  which 
he  wished  to  visit.  After  several  days  with  his  Indian  friends 
nearby,  he  set  out  one  cold  morning  in  company  with  Louis  Farfar 
and  several  young  Ottoes,  and  continued  up  the  Missouri.  When 
they  had  got  as  far  as  the  confluence  of  the  Papillon  or  Butterfly 
Creek  with  the  Missouri,  they  found  themselves  on  the  edge  of  a 
broad  prairie,  and  could  see  in  the  distance  the  Mission  and  the 
Agency.  At  sundown  Mollhausen  found  himself  at  the  door  of 
Mr.  Sarpy,  the  chief  of  the  fur  trading-post,  who  received  him  with 
the  hospitality  which  was  characteristic  of  western  frontier  life. 
Mollhausen  later  decided  that  Mr.  Sarpy  was  the  most  complete 
specimen  of  backwoodsman  that  he  had  seen,  and  he  in  all  proba 
bility  served  as  a  model  for  a  number  of  the  finely  portrayed  fron 
tiersmen  in  the  author's  novels.  At  this  time  Mollhausen  had 
nothing  that  he  could  call  his  own  except  his  weapons.  Even  his 
clothes  were  got  on  credit.  Here  in  the  trading  post  of  the  fur 
company  Mollhausen  had,  for  the  time,  nothing  to  do  but  study  the 
peculiarities  of  the  motley  crowd  which  gathered  there.  "People 
went  and  came",  Mollhausen  narrates,  "new  faces  and  new  forms 
crowded  Mr.  Sarpy's  hall,  which  resembled  a  well  filled  stage,  and 
all  the  more  because  the  tremendous  severity  of  the  winter  mostly 
kept  both  guests  and  host  within  doors.  I  had  an  excellent  op 
portunity  here  of  keeping  myself  in  practice  in  drawing,  and  I 
was  the  more  inclined  to  do  so,  as  I  contemplated  carrying  away 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  43 

with  me  to  my  home  something  more  than  mere  recollections  of 
what  I  had  seen."6 

This  trading-station,  known  as  Belle  Vue,  was  somewhat  south 
of  Council  Bluffs.  It  had  intercourse  chiefly  with  the  Omaha  In 
dians,  whose  village  lay  on  a  high  bank  of  the  Papillon  Creek,  about 
six  miles  from  the  Missouri.  Here  Mollhausen  remained  fourteen 
weeks,  during  which  time  he  often  accompanied  the  Omahas  on 
their  hunting  expeditions,  and  learned  much  of  their  modes  of  life. 
He  was  again  in  possession  of  his  usual  robust  health  and  seems  to 
have  enjoyed  to  the  full  the  role  he  was  taking  as  a  frontiersman. 
He  had  engaged  some  of  the  most  skillful  squaws  to  make  him  an 
Indian  outfit,  and  soon  thereafter  went  about  dressed  from  head  to 
foot  in  leather  garments  with  handsome  embroideries  and  fringes. 
Also,  if  we  may  accept  his  own  narrative  on  this  point,  he  had  fallen 
in  love  with  the  beautiful  half-breed  maiden,  Amelia  Papin,  the 
daughter  of  a  Pawnee  Indian  woman  by  a  Frenchman.  Urged  by 
Mr.  Sarpy,  he  now  entertained  for  a  time  the  thought  of  settling 
upon  the  Missouri.  "In  the  meanwhile,"  writes  Mollhausen,  "the 
last  ice  had  been  carried  away  by  the  muddy  waves  of  the  Missouri, 
and  given  over  to  the  Mississippi  for  complete  solution ;  the  buds  on 
the  trees  began  to  swell,  immense  flocks  of  birds  were  seen  flying 
towards  the  north,  crowds  of  emigrants  assembled  at  Bell  Vue 
to  proceed  to  Utah  Lake  or  California,  and  I  too  began  to  be  con 
scious  of  a  revival  of  my  old  desire  for  travelling."7  There  arrived 
at  Belle  Vue  at  this  time  a  caravan  of  Mormons,  who,  hearing  that 
Mollhausen  knew  the  road  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the  best 
places  for  camping,  offered  him  a  tempting  salary  if  he  would 
accompany  them  as  a  buffalo  hunter.  Mollhausen  felt  quite  un 
certain  as  to  whether  he  should  accept  the  offer  of  the  Mormons, 
or  whether  he  should  settle  at  Council  Bluffs  and  enter  upon  Mr. 
Sarpy's  offered  employment,  when  an  enexpected  but  very  fortu 
nate  circumstance  came  to  his  aid. 

From  Bethlehem  Mollhausen  had  directed  letters  to  St.  Louis 
with  inquiries  concerning  his  former  travelling  companion,  the  Duke 
of  Wurttemberg.8  After  a  period  of  three  months  he  received  a 

*  See  Mollhausen's  Diary  of  a  journey  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Coasts 
of  the  Pacific.  Translated  by  Mrs.  Percy  Sinnett.  2  Vols.  London.  1858. 
Vol.  I,  p.  252. 

7  See  the  Diary  of  a  Journey  from  the  Mississippi,  etc.   Vol.   I,   p.  299. 

8  These  letters  were  in  all  probability  directed  to  Angelrodt,  at  that  time 
German  consul  in  St.  Louis,  who  must  have  received  instructions  from  the 
Duke. 


44  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

reply  containing  the  news  that  Duke  Paul  had  arrived  safely  in 
New  Orleans,  and  had  long  ago  given  up  hope  of  ever  seeing 
Mollhausen  again.  The  letter  contained  letters  of  credit  and  the 
request  that  he  join  the  Duke  in  New  Orleans.9 

Mollhausen  was  not  long  in  deciding  what  course  to  pursue. 
He  bade  his  many  hospitable  friends  a  cordial  farewell  and  took 
an  early  steamer  down  the  Missouri  to  St.  Louis.  How  long  he 
remained  in  St.  Louis  is  not  known.  From  here  he  seems  to  have 
revisited  Belleville,  Illinois,  and  renewed  old  acquaintances  made 
during  his  earlier  sojourn  in  that  vicinity.  Finally  he  arrived  in 
New  Orleans  where  he  once  more  met  the  Duke.10  Mollhausen 
then  accompanied  the  Duke  upon  several  excursions  and  assisted 
him  in  gathering  material  for  his  geological  collection.  The  Prus 
sian  consul  Angelrodt,  stationed  at  St.  Louis,  had  entrusted  to 
the  care  of  Mollhausen  a  number  of  American  animals,  among  which 
were  beavers  and  grey  bears.  They  were  to  accompany  Mollhausen 
on  his  return  to  Germany,  and  there  be  given  over  to  the  zoological 
garden  in  Berlin.  It  must  have  been  late  in  the  autumn  of  1852 
when  Mollhausen  finally  embarked  on  a  vessel  bound  for  Bremen. 
On  January  6,  1853,  he  arrived  safely  in  Berlin  where  he  presented 
himself  to  Professor  Lichtenstein,  the  founder  of  the  Berlin  zoologi 
cal  garden,  and  delivered  to  him  the  animals  which  had  been  en 
trusted  to  his  care  upon  the  voyage.  Professor  Lichtenstein  was  at 
tracted  to  the  young  traveller  and  introduced  him  to  Alexander 
von  Humboldt.  Young  Mollhausen's  attractive  personality  and 
his  happy  manner  in  giving  expression  to  his  many  interesting  ex 
periences  in  the  New  World  won  for  him  the  friendship  of  the  aged 
scientist.  He  subsequently  became  a  frequent  and  welcome  visitor 
in  the  well  known  mansion  near  the  Oranienburger  Thor.  Nothing 
could  have  been  more  fortunate  for  the  young  man  than  the  kindly 
interest  which  Humboldt  manifested  in  him.  The  friendship  and 
patronage  of  this  world-renowned  man  went  far  toward  winning 
that  recognition  which  Mollhausen  later  enjoyed  as  a  traveller  and 
author. 


'See  also  the  Duke's  interesting  letter  from  New  Orleans  addressed  to 
Mollhausen  at  Bethlehem  on  the  banks  of  the  Missouri  (Appendix,  Letter 
No.  2). 

10  The  writer  has  no  data  concerning  the  definite  time  of  Mollhausen's 
sojourn  in  New  Orleans  and  his  final  departure. 


Balduin  Molllhmsai.  'I  he  German  Cooper  45 

Mollhausen  seems  at  this  time  to  have  entertained  no  idea 
whatever  of  putting  his  experiences  in  literary  form.  His  aesthetic 
sense  for  the  beauties  of  the  New  World  had  expressed  itself  in  a 
great  wealth  of  sketches  whose  beauty  and  faithfulness  to  nature 
had  called  forth  the  admiration  of  Alexander  von  Humboldt.  King 
Friederich  Wilhelm  IV,  to  whom  these  sketches  had  been  shown  by 
Humboldt,  also  expressed  great  interest  in  the  work  of  the  skillful 
young  artist,  and  was  pleased  to  see  him  in  his  palace.11  Recognizing 
the  ethnographic  value  of  Mollhausen's  sketches  of  Indian  life, 
Humboldt  encouraged  him  to  return  to  America.  During  his 
stay  in  Berlin  Mollhausen  had  been  studying  to  develop  himself 
in  certain  branches  of  his  art.  But  in  April  of  1853,  after  less  tnan 
four  months  in  Berlin,  he  was  already  preparing  to  enter  upon  his 
second  journey  to  America.  Before  leaving  for  America,  he  had 
become  engaged  to  Carolina  Alexandra,  the  daughter  of  Herr 
Seifert,  the  secretary  and  travelling  companion  of  Humboldt.  He 
had  learned  to  know  her  in  the  mansion  of  Alexander  von  Humboldt 
where  she  had  been  reared.  She  had  been  educated  under  the  per 
sonal  supervision  of  the  scientist  himself. 

Well  provided  with  recommendations,  entrusted  with  despatches 
from  the  American  embassy  at  Berlin,  and  having  with  him  a  gift 
of  fifty  Friederichs  d'or  from  the  gracious  King  Friederich  Wil 
helm  IV,  Mollhausen  sailed  from  Hamburg  on  April  15,  1853,  and 
landed  in  New  York  on  May  3.  He  hastened  at  once  to  Wash 
ington,  delivered  the  dispatches  and  presented  his  letters  of  in 
troduction  to  the  Prussian  ambassador,  Leo  Gerolt.  The  warm 
recommendation1-  of  Humboldt  whose  own  visits  and  explorations 
in  America  were  not  forgotten,  won  for  him  the  recognition  of  in 
fluential  men  in  Washington,  who  could  be  of  service  to  him  in 
executing  his  plans  to  visit  the  western  slopes  of  the  Rocky  Moun 
tains. 

Mollhausen  arrived  in  Washington  at  a  very  opportune  time. 
The  U.  S.  government  was  just  sending  out  three  different  ex 
peditions  for  finding  out  the  best  course  for  a  railroad  to  the  Pacific 
Ocean.  The  first  of  these,  under  the  command  of  Governor  Stevens 
was  to  go  westward  between  the  47th  and  49th  parallels,  north 
latitude,  cross  the  Rocky  Mountains  near  the  sources  of  the  Mis- 

11  Cf.  Letter  No.  6  in  the  Appendix. 
13  Cf.    Letter  No.  4. 


46  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

souri  and  Columbia,  and  keep  along  the  valleys  in  order  to  find 
what  facilities  were  afforded  for  railway  construction.  The  second, 
under  Captain  Gunnison,  was  to  go  along  the  38th  parallel,  tracing 
the  shortest  route  between  San  Francisco  and  St.  Louis.  The  third 
expedition  under  Lieutenant  Whipple  was  to  proceed  along  the 
35th  parallel  to  California  by  way  of  Fort  Smith  and  Albuquerque. 
The  first  two  expeditions  had  already  started,  but  the  third  was  not 
yet  fully  equipped.  The  position  of  a  topographer  was  not  yet 
filled.  Upon  the  recommendation  of  the  Prussian  ambassador,  Leo 
Gerolt,  Mollhausen  applied  for  the  position  and  in  a  few  days  re 
ceived  the  announcement  of  his  appointment.13  He  was  to  receive 
maintenance,  travelling  expenses,  and  one  hundred  dollars  per 
month  for  his  services.  The  Smithsonian  Institute  had  commis 
sioned  him  to  make  certain  physical  observations  on  this  journey. 
Also  the  office  of  naturalist  to  the  expedition  had  been  entrusted  to 
him.  After  spending  several  weeks  in  preparing  himself  for  his 
work,  Mollhausen  took  the  train  across  the  Alleghenies  to  Cincinnati. 
There  he  embarked  on  a  steamer  down  the  Ohio  and  reached  Cairo 
on  June  9.  The  steamer  continued  down  the  Mississippi  and 
reached  Fort  Napoleon,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas,  June  12. 
Several  other  members  of  Lieutenant  Whipple's  expedition  had 
already  arrived  there  and  were  waiting  for  an  opportunity  of  getting 
to  Fort  Smith.  They  were  obliged  to  wait  two  days  longer  for  the 
reason  that  the  captain  of  the  boat  on  the  Arkansas  had  thought 
the  number  of  passengers  too  small  to  make  the  trip  up  the  river. 
Finally  they  arrived  at  Fort  Smith  where  the  actual  labors  of  the 
expedition  in  marking  out  the  best  line  for  a  railway  from  this 
point  to  Pueblo  de  los  Angelos  on  the  Pacific  were  to  begin.  All 
the  members  of  the  expedition,  including  geologists,  surgeons,  bota 
nists,  astronomers,  and  draughtsmen,  twelve  in  number,  had 


Washington,  May  10,  1853. 
MMr.  Mollhausen: 

You  are  hereby  appointed  to  accompany,  as  topographer  or  draughts 
man,  the  expedition  under  my  command;  you  will  therefore  proceed  to 
Fort  Smith  on  the  Arkansas,  in  the  State  of  Arkansas,  and  there  await  further 
orders.  At  Fort  Napoleon,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas,  your  duties  will 
begin,  and  you  will  thence  keep  an  official  journal,  making  such  drawings  and 
memoranda  as  may  appear  to  you  of  value  or  interest  for  the  expedition  to 
which  you  belong. 

A.  W.  Whipple. 

Commander  of  the  Southern  Expedition  for  deter 
mining  the  line  of  Railway  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 
(Quoted  from  the  author's  Preface  to  the  Tagebuch  einer  Reise,  etc.) 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  47 

gathered  here.  Several  weeks  were  spent  at  Fort  Smith  in  prepar 
ing  for  the  long  journey.  At  last  the  necessary  wagons,  mules, 
and  laborers  had  all  been  got  together.  On  July  15,  1853,  the  ex 
pedition,  consisting  of  seventy  persons  (which  included  a  military 
escort),  left  Fort  Smith,  crossed  the  Poteau  river  and  followed  the 
road  over  the  marshy  bottomlands  in  the  angle  of  the  Arkansas  and 
Poteau.  Passing  through  some  Choctaw  lands,  the  party  crossed 
the  Sans-Bois  creek,  continued  along  the  south  bank  of  the  Cana 
dian,  and  finally  reached  Fort  Arbuckle,  where  they  remained  for 
a  time.  After  they  had  journeyed  several  weeks  across  the  prairies, 
under  a  most  oppressive  sun  they  came  to  the  valley  of  the  Canadian. 
Here  they  met  various  tribes  of  Indians.  Upon  reaching  Shady 
Creek  the  party  turned  from  the  Canadian  and  approached  the 
eastern  end  of  the  Llano  Estacado.  On  September  23  they  had 
reached  the  Tucumcari  Mountains,  and  two  days  later  came  to  the 
Gallinas  a  few  miles  above  its  union  with  the  Pecos,  somewhat  to 
the  east  of  the  Santa  Fc  Mountains.  They  pitched  their  tents  at 
a  spring  near  by,  and  since  they  were  soon  to  reach  the  Spanish 
towns  in  New  Mexico,  Lieutenant  Whipple  set  out  in  advance  in 
a  light  conveyance  for  Anton  Chico  to  inform  the  people  of  the 
approaching  expedition.  The  arrival  of  the  party  on  the  following 
day  caused  considerable  curiosity  in  the  little  frontier  village,  whose 
entire  population  numbered  no  more  than  three  hundred  inhabi 
tants.  They  were  very  courteously  received  by  the  Mexican  Alcalde, 
who  invited  them  to  a  festive  fandango  for  the  following 
day.  At  Anton  Chico  Lieutenant  Whipple  divided  the  expedition 
into  two  parties.  Lieutenant  Whipple  himself,  together  with  a 
topographer,  the  geologist,  the  botanist,  and  Mollhausen,  were  to 
visit  the  valley  of  Cuesta,  and  then  to  meet  the  other  party  at  the 
end  of  the  Canon  Blanco.  Thereupon  they  were  to  part  again,  the 
Lieutenant  and  his  men  turning  in  a  northwesterly  direction,  meet 
ing  the  Rio  Grande  at  the  Pueblo  St.  Domingo,  and  going  down  the 
river  to  Albuquerque,  while  the  main  body  of  the  expedition  was  to 
travel  in  a  straight  line  southward  from  the  Gold  Mountains  through 
the  San  Pedro  Pass,  and  reach  Albuquerque  two  days  before  the 
Lieutenant's  party.  In  the  first  week  of  October  the  two  parties 
of  the  expedition  met  in  Albuquerque,14  where  they  celebrated  the 


"In  the  Amigo  del  Pais,  the  weekly  paper  of  Albuquerque,  appeared  the 

:>ur   town   the 
which  arrived 


.*i    niv.  sirruyu    uct    i  i/K>,    me    wccMj    yd-pci    <ji    ^viuuq^uci  *4uc,    djjyctiicu    me 

following:     "We   have   had   the   pleasure    of    welcoming   in    our   town    the 
"ailroad  Expedition  under  command  of  Lieutenant  Whipple,  wh! 


48  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

occasion  by  a  banquet  in  the  open  air.  Here,  too,  they  at  last  re 
ceived  mail  which  had  been  forwarded  to  them  by  the  U.  S. 
government  in  Washington  by  means  of  the  Santa  Fe  Post. 

With  the  arrival  of  the  expedition  at  Albuquerque  the  first,  and 
by  far  the  easier  half  of  the  journey  was  completed.  Brevet 
Second  Lieutenant  Ives,  who  was  to  proceed  from  the  coast  of 
Texas  and  join  them  in  Albuquerque  had  not  yet  arrived.  A  longer 
stay  in  this  place  was  found  to  be  necessary.  Maps  and  profiles 
of  the  country  were  worked  out,  and  astronomical  and  meteorologi 
cal  observations  were  made.  Also  herbariums  and  geological 
collections  were  arranged  during  this  time.  Mollhausen  himself 
was  busy  with  his  collection  of  reptiles,  and  making  duplicates  of  his 
sketches.  All  collections  and  notes  were  then  carefully  packed  and 
forwarded  to  the  United  States  by  a  trading  caravan,  so  as  not 
to  expose  them  to  any  dangers  on  the  continued  journey.  In  a 
letter  to  Alexander  von  Humboldt,  dated  at  Baltimore  on  Novem 
ber  28,  1853,  the  Prussian  ambassador  to  the  United  States,  Leo 
Gerolt,  has  occasion  to  speak  of  the  beautiful  drawings  which 
Mollhausen  had  already  sent  to  the  Smithsonian  Institute.  He 
speaks  of  400  dollars  received  from  Mollhausen,  which  he  had  al 
ready  saved  from  his  salary,  and  which  the  ambassador  was  to 
send  to  Berlin  where  it  was  to  be  placed  to  the  account  of  his 
betrothed,  Fraulein  Carolina  Seifert.  Also  he  mentions  that  no 
further  news  need  be  expected  from  Mollhausen  before  the  expedi 
tion  reaches  California,  and  begs  Humboldt  to  comfort  Fraulein 
Seifert  in  the  meanwhile.  The  high  esteem  in  which  the  ambassa 
dor  himself  regards  the  young  man  is  expressed  in  the  following 
words:  "Gestatten  Euer  Excellenz  (Humboldt)  dass  ich  im  Geiste 
und  in  Gebete  mich  den  frommen  Wiinschen  und  Huldigungen  an- 


here  safely  on  the  third  of  October,  1853.  The  expedition  consists  of  the 
following  members:  Lieutenant  Ives,  First  Asst.  of  Lieutenant  Whipple  in 
the  Topographical  Department;  Dr.  John  M.  Bigelow,  Physician  and  Bota 
nist;  Jules  Marcou,  Geologist  and  Mineralogist;  H.  B.  Mollhausen,  Natural 
ist  and  Topographical  Draughtsman;  C.  B.  Kennerley,  Naturalist;  Albert 
Campbell,  Engineer  and  Surveyor;  Hugh  Campbell,  Astronomer;  W.  White, 
Meteorologist;  George  Garner,  Astronomer  and  Secretary;  John  P.  Sher 
wood,  Meteorologist;  Thomas  Park,  Astronomer;  Lieutenant  Johns,  7th 
Infantry  Regiment,  Commander  of  the  Escort;  D.  S.  Stanley,  Quartermaster 
and  Commissary.  We  have  received  from  Lieutenant  Whipple  the  most 
satisfactory  intelligence  concerning  the  route  examined  by  the  Expedition." 
(Cited  from  Mollhausen's  Tagebuch  einer  Reise,  etc.) 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  49 

schliesse  welche  der  reine  und  kraftige  Jungling  Ihnen  zum  neuen 
Jahre  darbringt."10 

In  Albuquerque  the  services  of  the  well  known  Canadian  guide 
Leroux  were  secured.  As  a  second  guide  Lieutenant  Whipple  en 
gaged  a  Mexican  to  accompany  them  to  California.  During  the 
fifth  week  of  their  stay  in  Albuquerque,  Lieutenant  Ives  and  his 
men  arrived  from  Texas,  making  the  number  of  men  in  the  expedi 
tion  one  hundred  and  fourteen.  They  started  out  on  their  journey 
westward  during  the  second  week  in  November.  About  November 
20  they  had  arrived  upon  the  summit  of  the  ridge  of  the  Sierra 
Madre,  the  watershed  between  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific.  After 
a  number  of  days  spent  in  visiting  the  towns  of  the  Zuiii  Indians, 
the  party,  with  the  assistance  of  two  native  guides,  went  on  to  the 
Little  Colorado.  On  December  2  they  came  to  the  valley  of  the 
Rio  Seceo,  somewhat  west  of  Zuiii.  Here  they  saw  before  them 
a  stretch  of  land  which  appeared  like  timber-land  upon  which  the 
trees  had  been  felled  and  left  lying.  On  coming  nearer  they  found 
fossil  trees,  since  known  as  the  Petrified  Forest.  Mollhausen  made 
careful  observations  of  the  phenomenon,  and,  on  arriving  in  New 
York  again  late  in  April,  1854,  sent  these  to  Fraulein  Seifert  who 
arranged  them  and  presented  them  to  the  Geographical  Society  of 
Berlin  where  they  were  read.  Fragments  of  the  petrified  wood  were 
brought  to  Germany  by  Mollhausen,  where  they  received  careful 
investigation  at  the  hands  of  Geh.  Med.  Rath  Goppert,  Director  of 
the  Botanical  Garden  at  Breslau.  One  of  these  specimens  was 
named  Araucarites  M ollhansianus  in  honor  of  its  discoverer.10 

Christmas  day  was  celebrated  in  camp  on  the  eastern  slope  of 
the  San  Francisco  Mountains.  On  January  23,  1854,  the  expedi 
tion  was  entering  upon  the  march  up  the  Aztec  Pass,  where  a 
great  many  obstacles  had  to  be  removed.  On  February  i  they 
descended  into  the  Cactus  Pass,  and  followed  along  Bill  Williams's 
Fork.  For  four  weeks  they  had  been  looking  in  vain  for  the  Colo 
rado.  From  the  heights  they  saw  only  endless  wilderness.  On 
February  20  a  sudden  turn  of  the  valley  revealed  to  them  a  full 
view  of  the  long  looked  for  river.  They  continued  northwesterly 
along  its  valley  for  about  a  week  and  then  left  it  to  proceed  west 
ward.  On  March  I  the  party  found  itself  on  the  edge  of  an  arid 

11  See  Letter  No.  8. 

"Cf.  Extract  from  a  lecture  by  Goppert,  "On  the  Fragments  of  wood 
brought  by  Mollhausen  from  the  Petrified  Forest".  In  Notes  to  Vol.  II  of 
Mollhausen's  Tagebucli  einer  Reise,  etc. 


50  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

desert  stretching  from  the  Gila  for  more  than  a  hundred  miles.  But 
for  the  competent  guidance  of  two  Mohaves,  the  party  had  prob 
ably  never  taken  its  way  across  the  desert.  On  March  12  they 
met  some  travellers  for  the  first  time  since  leaving  the  Rio  Grande. 
They  were  four  Mormons  making  their  way  to  Salt  Lake.  From 
them  they  first  learned  the  sad  fate  of  Captain  Gunnison,  commander 
of  the  expedition  north  of  theirs,  who,  with  others  of  his  men,  had 
fallen  a  victim  to  murderous  Indians.  On  March  13  they  left  the 
Mohave  and  continued  across  the  San  Bernardino  Mountains,  and 
finally  on  March  20  arrived  in  the  town  of  Pueblo  de  los  Angelos. 
They  had  been  travelling  eleven  months  and  their  outward  persons 
bore  signs  of  their  many  hardships.  Lieutenant  Whipple  went 
down  into  the  town  to  put  himself  into  communication  with  the 
authorities  and  to  find  when  the  party  could  leave  Los  Angelos. 
A  steamer  came  every  week  to  San  Pedro,  twenty-five  miles  away, 
and  then  returned  to  San  Diego  and  San  Francisco.  A  steamer  was 
due  March  24  and  as  it  remained  only  a  few  hours,  the  party  had 
much  to  do  in  preparing  itself  for  departure.  An  auction  was 
held  at  which  the  entire  stock  of  mules  and  other  property  no 
longer  needed  by  the  party  was  sold.  The  members  carefully 
packed  their  notes  and.  collections  and  sent  them  on  to  San  Pedro, 
where  they  themselves  arrived  by  post  coach  on  the  evening  of 
March  23.  The  purposes  of  the  expedition  had  now  been  carried 
out  and  all  that  remained  to  do  was  to  return  by  the  shortest  way 
to  Washington  and  there  draw  up  the  reports  to  be  laid  before 
Congress. 

The  passage  from  San  Pedro  to  San  Francisco  required  three 
days.  On  April  2  the  steamer  "Oregon"  was  to  leave  San  Fran 
cisco  for  Panama.  Lieutenant  Whipple  and  a  few  others  proposed 
remaining  in  San  Francisco  a  little  longer.  Mollhausen  with  five 
others  of  the  party  took  passage  on  the  "Oregon"  and  arrived  at 
Panama  on  April  15.  They  crossed  the  isthmus,  partly  by  mules, 
partly  by  rail,  to  Aspinwall,  where  they  took  a  steamer  for  New 
York.  After  a  passage  of  nine  days  they  landed  in  New  York 
on  April  28.  Mollhausen  remained  in  New  York  only  two  days  and 
then  hastened  on  to  Washington,  where,  after  several  weeks  he  once 
more  met  Lieutenant  Whipple  and  his  old  comrades  in  the  govern 
ment  offices. 

In  August,  1854,  Mollhausen  was  again  in  Berlin  and  for  the 
time  resided  in  the  home  of  Alex,  von  Humboldt.  On  February  6, 
1855,  he  was  married  to  Frl.  Carolina  Seifert,  a  faithful  wife  and 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  51 

companion  through  fifty  years,  and  the  sharer  of  his  later  literary 
successes.17  Through  the  solicitations  of  Humboldt,  Frederick  Wil 
liam  IV,  the  art-loving  king  of  Prussia,  who  had  previously  ex 
pressed  an  interest  in  the  drawings  and  paintings  of  the  talented 
young  traveller,  created  for  him  the  position  of  custodian  of  the 
libraries  in  the  royal  residences  in  and  about  Potsdam,  a  position 
which  Mollhausen  held  until  his  death  in  1905.  The  King  had  also 
offered  Mollhausen  a  residence  on  the  Pfauen  Insel,  which  he,  how 
ever,  declined  on  account  of  Fran  Mollhausen's  preference  to  reside 
in  Potsdam.  In  September,  1856,  a  son  was  born  to  them. 

Due  to  the  graciousness  of  the  king,  Mollhausen's  position  of 
custodian  of  the  libraries  was  nothing  less  than  a  sinecure,  and  he 
had  much  time  for  his  private  pursuits.  Perhaps  encouraged  by  the 
favorable  reception  given  the  reports  of  his  travels  in  the  Far  West 
by  the  Geographical  Society  of  Berlin,  to  which  they  had  been 
presented  by  its  chairman,  Director  Lichtenstein,  Mollhausen  now 
set  out  to  give  his  experiences  and  observations  made  on  the  western 
continent  more  permanent  form.  The  result  was  the  Tagebuch 
einer  Reise  vom  Mississippi  nach  den  Kiisten  der  Siidsee  (1858), 
the  manuscript  of  which  he  presented  to  Alex,  von  Humboldt  for 
consideration.  The  latter  was  not  only  pleased  with  the  material 
but  also  with  the  skillful  manner  of  presentation,  and  predicted  that 
a  publisher  would  soon  be  found.18  Humboldt's  admiration  for  the 
work  is  further  expressed  by  the  fact  that  he  was  pleased  to  write 
an  introduction  to  it,  all  the  more  significant  for  the  reason  that 
Humboldt,  during  his  long  and  illustrious  career  had  written  intro 
ductory  prefaces  to  other  works  than  his  own  only  four  times.19 
In  this  work  Mollhausen  relates  in  a  popularly  scientific  manner 
the  experiences  of  the  expedition  sent  by  the  United  States  govern- 


"  Reared  in  the  home  of  Alex,  von  Humboldt,  educated  under  his  care, 
and  having  enjoyed  the  acquaintane  of  many  of  the  illustrious  persons  who 
gathered  about  the  great  scientist,  this  remarkable  lady,  now  in  her  eighty- 
fifth  year,  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  personalities  in  the  Prussian  capi 
tal.  The  following  lines  written  by  Humboldt  in  an  autograph  book  of 
Frau  Mollhausen,  may  be  of  some  interest :  "In  meinem  Hause  aufgewach- 
sen,  und  anmutig  ausgebildet  zur  Freude  ihrer  theuren  Altern,  mogest  Du  • 
oft,  theure  Karolina,  wenn  ich  nicht  mehr  sein  werde,  diese  frommen  Zeilen 
beherzigen  und  meiner  gedenken  in  Liebe  und  Heiterkeit  den  Stiitzen  des 
Lebens. 

Alex.  v.  Humboldt." 

MCf.   Letter  No.  14. 

18  Cf.    Humboldt's  Introduction. 


52  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

ment  under  Lieutenant  Whipple  with  the  purpose  of  finding  out 
the  shortest  route  for  a  railway  to  the  Pacific  coast.  He  incidentally 
relates  in  it  also  many  of  the  adventures  of  his  first  trip  to  America 
when  he  accompanied  the  Duke  of  Wurtemberg.  The  pleasing 
stories  of  "Inez  Gonzales/'  "Love  in  a  Log  House,"  and  the  old 
trapper's  story,  woven  into  this  work,  already  betray  the  facile  pen 
of  the  later  novelist.  This  work  won  for  him  the  recognition  of 
Franz  Josef,  emperor  of  Austria,  who  honored  him  with  the  great 
golden  medal  for  Art  and  Science. 

The  King  continued  to  take  the  greatest  interest  in  Mollhausen. 
The  latter's  many  splendid  sketches  and  paintings  done  on  his  recent 
travels  delighted  him  and  he  was  pleased  to  purchase  some  of  them. 
In  August,  1857,  the  King  conferred  upon  the  young  man,  as  a 
special  token  of  his  regard,  the  Order  of  the  Red  Eagle,  fourth 
class.20 

Before  the  manuscript  of  Mollhausen's  first  work  had  gone  to 
the  printer,  he  received  a  letter  from  Lieutenant  Ives,  informing  him 
that  the  United  States  Secretary  of  War  had  appointed  him  as 
assistant  to  an  expedition  which,  under  Lieutenant  Ives,  was  to 
explore  and  survey  the  Colorado  river.  Mollhausen  was  to  be 
prepared  to  leave  for  San  Francisco  on  a  steamer  sailing  from 
New  York  about  September  20,  1857.  Mollhausen  left  Berlin  on 
August  12.  The  steamers  of  the  Hamburg  line  had  been  rented 
by  the  English  government  for  the  transport  of  troops  to  East  India. 
He  therefore  went  to  Liverpool  and  sailed  thence  for  New  York  on 
August  1 8.  He  was  desirous  of  landing  in  New  York  before 
September  5,  in  order  that  he  might  receive  personal  instructions 
from  his  commander,  Lieutenant  Ives,  for  on  that  day  the  latter  was 
embarking  for  California.  Mollhausen,  with  others  of  the  ex 
pedition  were  to  follow  two  weeks  later  with  the  meteorological 
and  astronomical  instruments.  Mollhausen  landed  in  New  York 
on  September  i.  He  was  here  informed  by  Lieutenant  Ives  that 
a  small  river  steamer  for  navigating  on  the  Colorado  had  been 
constructed  in  Philadelphia.  It  had  been  taken  apart  and  for 
warded  to  California.  Lieutenant  Ives  was  to  hasten  to  California 
in  advance,  in  order  to  make  the  necessary  purchases.  These, 
together  with  the  small  river  steamer,  were  to  be  placed  on  a 
government  schooner,  and  accompanied  by  Lieutenant  Ives,  with 


20Cf.  Letter  No.  20. 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  (icrumn  Cooper  53 

several  of  his  assistants.  The  schooner  was  to  sail  around  Cape 
Lucas  and  up  the  Gulf  of  California  to  the  mouth  of  the  Colorado, 
from  whence  the  explorations  were  to  begin.  Lieutenant  Ives 
accordingly  left  New  York  on  September  5.  Mollhausen  went 
to  Washington  where  he  presented  himself  to  President  Buchanan 
and  to  Secretary  of  War  Hoyd.  The  encouragement  he  received 
from  both  convinced  him  of  the  great  interest  taken  in  the  Colorado 
expedition,  and  how  eagerly  the  results  of  the  same  were  awaited. 
On  September  17.  he  was  again  in  New  York.  Here  he  joined 
Dr.  Nevvberry,  who  was  to  be  a  physician  to  the  expedition,  and  Herr 
von  Egloffstein,  a  Bavarian,  who  had  been  engaged  as  topographer. 
On  September  21  the  three  embarked  on  the  steamer  "Northern 
Light''  which  arrived  at  Aspimvall,  Panama,  on  October  I.  The 
following  day  they  took  train  to  the  west  coast  of  the  Isthmus  where 
they  embarked  for  California,  arriving  in  San  Francisco  on 
October  22.  Here  they  met  other  members  of  the  expedition. 
Lieutenant  Ives,  in  company  with  Mr.  Carrol,  the  machine-master, 
a  smith,  a  carpenter,  and  several  boatmen,  intended  to  remain  on 
the  schooner  on  which  the  small  steamboat,  camping-outfits,  and 
provisions  had  been  brought  from  New  York,  and  sail  around  Cape 
Lucas,  up  the  Gulf  of  California  to  the  mouth  of  the  Colorado, 
where  the  small  steamboat  was  to  be  joined  together.  With  this 
steamboat  and  several  towboats  they  then  intended  to  bring  their 
outfits  to  Fort  Yuma  where  the  members  of  the  expedition  were  to 
assemble.  Lieutenant  Ives's  departure  was  fixed  for  November  2. 
All  other  members  were  to  take  a  boat  bound  for  San  Diego  on  the 
following  day  and  land  at  two  different  points.  One  division,  con 
sisting  of  Egloffstein,  Taylor,  Peacock,  and  M6!lhausen,  were  to 
disembark  at  San  Pedro,  hire  packers  and  muleteers,  and  proceed 
with  them  in  wagons  to  Fort  Tejon,  a  United  States  military 
station  in  the  interior  of  California.  There  they  were  to  take 
charge  of  120  mules  and  then  continue  to  Fort  Yuma.  The  other 
division,  consisting  of  Dr.  Newberry,  Bielawski,  Booker,  and 
Lieutenant  Tipton  were  to  land  in  San  Diego  in  order  to  get  other 
equipments  at  the  military  station  there,  and  then  follow  the  nearest 
route  to  Fort  Yuma.  On  November  3  Mollhausen,  with  the 
others,  embarked  on  the  "Senator."  On  November  5  they  arrived 
at  San  Pedro  where  Mollhausen  and  the  others  of  the  first  division 
disembarked.  They  proceeded  overland  to  Fort  Tejon  and  re 
mained  there  about  ten  days.  This  was  the  period  of  the  hostilities 


54  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

between  the  United  States  government  and  the  Mormons.  In  Los 
Angeles  several  Mormons  had  already  advised  Mollhausen  as  a 
foreigner  to  leave  the  expedition  if  he  valued  his  life.  The  Mor 
mons  looked  upon  the  expedition  as  having  more  than  purely 
scientific  purposes.  The  party  arrived  at  Fort  Yuma  on  Decem 
ber  20,  and  were  there  greeted  by  the  other  division  which  had 
gone  by  way  of  San  Diego.  They  learned  here  that  Lieutenant 
Ives  had  landed  at  the  mouth  of  the  Colorado  on  December  I,  and 
that  he  might  be  expected  at  Fort  Yuma  during  the  early  days  of 
January.  In  Fort  Yuma  Mollhausen  received  letters  from  Europe 
with  the  news  that  his  friend  and  benefactor,  Lichtenstein,  the 
director  of  the  Zoological  Garden  in  Berlin,  had  died.  On  Janu 
ary  6,  1858,  Lieutenant  Ives  appeared  at  Fort  Yuma,  and  on 
January  n,  in  the  presence  of  all  the  white  settlers  and  the  Yuma 
Indians,  the  little  steamer  "Explorer"  began  its  memorable  journey 
up  the  Colorado.  On  February  i,  they  were  near  the  mouth  of 
Bill  William's  Fork,  at  which  point  Mollhausen  and  Lieutenant 
Ives  had  both  been  in  1854  while  in  Whipple's  expedition.  Here 
Mollhausen  received  mail  from  his  famil)  for  the  last  time  before 
his  return  to  New  York  in  the  following  August.21  On  March  6 
they  came  to  the  entrance  of  the  Black  Canon  where  the  boat 
struck  bottom.  After  investigations  had  been  made  the  river  was 
declared  unnavigable  from  that  point.  On  March  15,  they  re 
turned  down  the  river  to  a  point  from  whence  a  land  expedition  for 
exploring  the  Upper  Colorado  could  be  made.  The  party  consisted 
of  Lieutenant  Ives,  Dr.  Newberry,  Herr  von  Egloffstein,  Peacock, 
and  Mollhausen,  together  with  a  number  of  servants  and  twenty- 
four  soldiers  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant  Tipton.  They 
entered  upon  their  journey  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Colorado  on 


21 A  letter  from  Alex,  von  Humboldt,  dated  December  21,  1857,  only 
reached  Mollhausen  here  on  the  Colorado,  far  above  the  Mohave  settlements, 
whither  it  had  been  forwarded  from  Fort  Yuma  through  an  Indian  runner. 
The  following  excerpts  will  show  the  great  interest  manifested  both  by 
Humboldt  (in  spite  of  his  88  years),  and  the  king  in  Mollhausen  and  his 
travels : 

"Ich  kann  nur  wenige  Zeilen  des  Dankes  und  der  innigen  Freundschaft 

dem  Briefe  Ihrer  liebenswiirdigen  Gattin  beifiigen Sie  haben 

leider  eine  sehr  sturmische  Uberfahrt  gehabt,  aber  Ihre  gliickliche  Ankunft 
hat  auch  den  kranken  Konig,  dem  ich  sie  vorgestern  erzahlte  und  der  sich 
Ihrer  noch  immer  freundlich  erinnert,  sehr  interessirt.  Die  Genesung  des 
Konigs  macht  Fortschritte ;  mogen  unsere  Hoff nungen  sich  nicht  tauschen. 
Ich  lege  diesem  Briefe,  den  Herr  von  Gerolt  durch  das  Kriegsministerium 
besorgen  wird,  das  bei,  was  ich  heute  gemeinschaftlich  mit  Ihrer  recht  schrift- 
stellerischen  Frau  habe  iiber  Ihre  Reise,  Theurer  Mollhausen,  in  die  Spen- 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  55 

March  23.  Cutting  across  the  country,  they  came  to  Leroux 
Springs  and  the  valley  of  the  Colorado  Chiquito  late  in  April,  fre 
quently  traversing  the  same  road  Captain  Whipple  had  taken  in 
1854.  Here  the  condition  of  the  animals  and  lack  of  provisions  did 
not  permit  the  entire  party  to  continue  the  explorations.  It  was 
therefore  decided  that  Mollhausen,  Peacock,  Dr.  Newberry  and 
Egloffstein,  with  the  necessary  servants  and  equipments  should  con 
tinue  in  an  easterly  direction  to  Albuquerque,  where  their  services 
were  to  end.  Lieutenant  Ives,  and  a  very  limited  party,  were  to 
continue  in  their  search.  Mollhausen  and  his  companions  arrived 
at  Albuquerque  on  June  i  and  camped  there  nine  days.  During 
this  time  they  received  news  from  Fort  Yuma  that  the  steamboat 
"Explorer"  had  reached  safely  again  the  mouth  of  the  Colorado. 
On  June  7  Lieutenant  Ives  once  more  joined  them  and  the  ex 
pedition  was  then  dissolved,  its  members  going  on  their  various 
ways.  Mollhausen,  Peacock,  Dr.  Newberry,  Egloffstein,  and  three 
servants  were  going  to  cross  the  prairies  eastward  on  their  own 
accounts.  They  were  directed  by  Lieutenant  Ives  to  touch  the 
military  station,  Fort  Union,  where  an  American  officer  and  his 
family  were  to  be  given  the  opportunity  to  return  with  them  to  the 
United  States.  They  remained  at  Fort  Union  from  June  18  to 
23.  From  that  point  their  immediate  destination  was  Fort  Leaven- 
worth  on  the  upper  Missouri.  A  month  later  the  small  party 
arrived  at  Fort  Leaven  worth  and  the  long  journey  across  the 
prairies  was  at  an  end.  Here  they  were  to  give  up  their  animals, 
wagons,  harness,  and  saddles  to  the  commander  of  the  fort  and 
continue  their  journey  by  rail  or  boat  as  they  chose,  retaining  only 
their  scientific  collections  and  notebooks.  Here  also  they  bought 
new  clothes  and  visited  a  barber!  Egloffstein  remained  in  Leaven- 
worth.  The  others  took  a  steamer  down  the  Missouri  on  July  27. 
Peacock  got  off  at  Independence,  his  old  home,  leaving  Mollhausen 

ersche   Zeitung   setzen   lassen Mein   Befinden   ist,  wie   Sie  mich 

verliessen,  an  Kraften  abnehmend,  ich  klage  aber  nie. 

"Empfehlen  Sie  mich  freundschaftlichst  Ihrem  Commandanten,  Herrn 
Lieutenant  Ives,  und  sagen  Sie  ihm,  dass  ich  ihm  dankbar  bleibe  fur  Alles, 
was  er  Ihnen  Freundliches  erweist.  Ich  rede  nicht  von  Wiedersehen,  weil 
ich  nicht  daran  glaube  und  Sie  nicht  betriiben  will.  Gott  segne  Ihr  Un- 
ternehmen !  Ihr  treuer  aber  unleserlicher, 

Alexander  von  Humboldt. 
"Berlin,  den  21.  December,   1857." 

(From  the  Introduction  to  Mollhausen's  Reisen  in  die  Felsengebirge 
Nordamerikas,  etc.) 


56  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

and  Dr.  Newberry  to  go  to  St.  Louis  alone.  From  the  latter  place 
they  took  train  to  Cleveland,  Ohio,  where  Mollhausen  visited 
Dr.  Newberry  and  his  family.  Later  he  went  by  train  to  New  York, 
and  thence  to  Washington.  In  the  latter  city  he  revisited  many 
friends  and  acquaintances.  Upon  the  solicitations  of  Frau  Moll 
hausen  he  requested  the  Secretary  of  War  in  Washington  for  per 
mission  to  complete  his.  sketches  and  scientific  reports  in  Berlin.-2 
He  was  granted  liberty  to  do  so.  On  September  i,  1858,  just  at 
the  time  when  New  York  was  celebrating  the  completion  of  the 
laying  of  the  Atlantic  cable,  he  embarked  at  that  city  on  the  steamer 
"Saxonia"  and  arrived  in  Berlin  about  September  15,  after  an 
_absence  of  thirteen  months. 

While  Mollhausen  was  on  his  last  journey  in  America  Frau 
Mollhausen  with  their  small  son,  Alexander,  had  been  living  in 
Berlin,  but  upon  his  return  residence  was  again  taken  up  in  Pots 
dam.  Mollhausen's  first  work,  the  Tagebuch  einer  Reise,  etc., 
which  was  ready  for  the  press  at  the  time  of  his  departure,  had  in 
the  meantime  appeared,  and  with  considerable  success.  Before  his 
return  to  Germany  the  work  was  already  being  translated  into  the 
English  and  Dutch  languages.  During  the  time  which  followed 
immediately  upon  his  return  Mollhausen  was  occupied  in  preparing 
his  reports  for  the  United  States  government.  The  following  year, 
1859,  his  friend  and  patron,  Alex,  von  Humboldt,  to  whom  he  was 
so  deeply  indebted,  died  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety  years.  In  the 
more  leisure  hours  which  now  followed,  Mollhausen  frequently 
returned  to  his  much  loved  avocation,  the  art  of  painting.  In  1860 
he  was  unanimously  elected  a  Corresponding  Member  of  the  His 
torical  Society  of  New  Mexico,  a  token  of  the  regard  in  which  Moll 
hausen  continued  to  be  held  in  America.23  In  this  year,  also, 
appeared  a  second  edition  of  his  first  work,  under  the  altered  title : 
Wanderungen  durch  die  Prairien  und  Wilsten  des  westlichen  Nord- 
amerika  vom  Mississippi  nach  den  Kiisten  de"r  Sildsee  im  Gefolgc 
der  von  der  Regierung  der  Vereinigten  Staaten  unter  Lieutenant 
Whipple  ausge'sandten  Expedition.  At  this  time  too  he  was  pre 
paring  a  work  on  his  last  journey  to  America,  which  was  to  be  a 
popular  but  scientific  account  of  the  expedition  up  the  Colorado. 
It  appeared  in  1861  under  the  following  title:  Reisen  in  die  Felsen- 


22  Cf.  Letter  No.  23. 

23  Cf .  Letter  No.  24. 


Baldwin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  57 

gebirge  Nordamerikas  bis  cum  Hoch-Plateau  von  Neu-Me.vico, 
untcrnommen  als  Mitglicd  der  im  Auftrage  der  Regierung  dcr  Ver- 
einigten  Staaten  ansgcsandtcn  Colorado-Expedition.  It  was  dedi 
cated  as  follows:  "Seiner  Koniglichen  Hoheit  dem  Prinzen  von 
Preussen,  Friedrich  Wilhelm  Ludwig,  Regenten,  in  tiefster  Ehr- 
furcht  der  Verfasser."  In  recognition  of  this  work  Mollhausen  was 
made  Knight  of  the  imperial  Austrian  order  of  Franz  Josef. 

In  Potsdam  Mollhausen's  picturesque  personality  and  jovial 
nature  soon  won  for  him  a  host  of  friends.  He  possessed  a  won 
derful  gift  of  vigorous,  plastic  narrative,  and  often  entertained  his 
friends  with  vivid  accounts  of  his  "Wander jahre."  He  had  en 
deared  himself  especially  to  the  military  men  stationed  at  Pots 
dam,  who  seem  to  have  looked  upon  him  as  a  hero.  Many  of  them 
took  instruction  in  English  from  him,  at  which  time,  according  to 
the  pleasant  phrase  of  Frau  Mollhausen  "natiirlich  mehr  getrunken 
wurde  als  Englisch  gesprochen."  Though  Mollhausen  appears  at 
this  time  often  to  have  joined  in  the  convivial  gatherings  of  the 
officers  at  Potsdam,  he  was  nevertheless  far  from  idle.  From  many 
of  his  friends  came  the  request  that  he  attempt  to  express  himself 
in  literary  form.  In  1860  there  appeared  in  Die  Gartenlaiibe  his 
first  purely  belletristic  works,  a  series  of  sketches  under  the  follow 
ing  titles:  Scenen  aus  dem  Volksleben  in  Neu-Orleans;  Die  Fata 
Morgana  in  der  Wiiste;  Der  Prairiebrand ;  and  Das  Canalboot. 
However,  according  to  the  words  of  his  surviving  widow,  Moll 
hausen  was  first  encouraged  to  try  his  hand  at  more  pretentious 
fiction  by  an  aunt,  a  Fraulein  Adelheid  von  Falkenstein,  Prioress 
of  a  school  at  Earth  near  Stralsund.  There  followed  the  novel 
Der  Halbindianer.  Erzahluny  aus  dem  westlichen  Xordamerika 
(4  Bde.)  which  appeared  in  1861.  It  was  the  author's  pur 
pose,  as  he  states  in  his  introduction,  to  furnish  in  a  measure,  an 
illustration  to  his  earlier  scientific  works.  In  the  same  year  ap 
peared  his  second  novel  Der  Flnchtling.  Erzahlung  aus  Neu- 
Mexico  und  dem  angrencenden  Indianergebiet;  im  Anschluss  an 
den  "Halbindianer"  (4  Bde.)  In  the  introduction  to  this 
novel  he  informs  the  reader  that  it  is  the  purpose  of  the  Halb 
indianer,  and  the  Fliichtling,  and  other  novels  still  to  follow,  not 
merely  to  present  a  story,  but  also  to  make  the  same  serve  as  a 
means  for  more  effective  descriptions  of  nature  and  more  plastic 
presentations  of  the  customs  and  manners  of  peoples  in  the  new 


58  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

world  than  were  otherwise  possible.  The  Vossische  Zeitung  informs 
us  of  another  phase  of  Mollhausen's  activities  at  this  time.  On 
March  8,  1861,  he  addressed  the  "Literarische  Gesellschaft"  of 
Potsdam,  taking  for  his  subject  Calif  ornische  Reisebilder.2* 

At  about  this  time  must  have  begun  Mollhausen's  more  intimate 
relations  with  Friedrich  Karl,  Prince  of  Prussia,  to  whom  he  be 
came  deeply  attached,  and  whose  praises  he  later  sang  in  the  Drei- 
linden  Lieder.  From  a  letter  written  by  the  Prince  on  April  10, 
1861,  we  learn  that  Mollhausen  had  sent  the  Prince  one  of  his  photo 
graphs  representing  him  in  the  leather  garb  of  an  American  trapper, 
upon  which  the  Prince  presented  him  one  of  his  own,  though,  as  he 
added,  in  the  dress  of  a  "zahmerer  Jager."25  There  now  followed 
nearly  two  decades  of  happy  domestic  life  with  his  wife  and  two 
sons  in  the  quiet  of  their  home  in  Potsdam.  These  years,  though 
to  the  outer  world  exceedingly  uneventful,  proved  to  be  very  pro 
ductive  ones.  In  the  year  1863  appeared  Der  Major  domo.  Erzah- 
lung  aits  dem  siidlichen  Kalifornien  und  Neu-Me.vico  (4  Bde.), 
which  was  a  sequel  to  Der  Halbindianer  and  Der  Fliichtling,  the 
three  together  forming  a  trilogy,  so  to  speak,  on  western  life  in 
America  at  about  the  middle  of  the  previous  century.  In  the  same 
year  was  published  Palmbldtter  und  Schneeflocken.  Erzahlungen 
aus  demfernen  Westen,  (2  Bde.),  a  series  of  short  tales  and  sketches 
containing  many  bits  of  fine  narrative.  Encouraged  by  the  favor 
with  which  these  early  novels  were  received  Mollhausen  now  en 
tered  upon  a  long  and  successful  literary  career.  With  that  same 
earnestness  of  spirit  and  vigor  of  body  which  characterized  the 
young  man  on  his  travels  in  the  Far  West,  Mollhausen  henceforth 
devoted  himself  to  letters.  The  numerous  works  of  the  ensuing 
years,  and  their  high  literary  quality  are  indicative  of  the  author's 
zeal  and  unabating  fertility  of  mind.26  In  1864  appeared  Das  Mor- 


24  "Ein  Reihe  von  Schilderungen  die  einem  grosseren  Ganzen  angehoren 
und  das  Leben  in   Californiens   Golddistricten  und   die  Natur  daselbst  mit 
lebendigen  Farben  aus  selbstgewonnene'r  Anschauung  schildern.     Die  Spiel- 
holle  in  Sacramento,  die  Goldminen,  Beschreibung  eines  Engpasses  und  'aus 
der  tiefsten  Wildniss'  waren  die  Uberschriften  eben  so  vieler  pikant  beleuch- 
teter   Bilder,    die   vorzugsweise   der   Nachtseite  des   dortigen    Treibens  ent- 
nommen  sind  und  zum  Theil  den  Zusammenstoss  der  goldgierigen  Europaer 
mit  den  nicht  weniger  verderbten  Ureinwohnern  des  Landes  anziehend  dar- 
stellen."     (Quoted  from  Vossische  Zeitung,  14.  Marz,  1861). 

25  Cf.  Letter  No.  26. 

39  A  consideration  of  all  the  novelist's  works  follows  in  the  next  chap 
ter. 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  59 

monenmddchen.  Eine  Erzahlung  aus  der  Zeit  des  Kricgszuges  der 
Vereinigten  Staaten  gegen  die  "Heiligen  der  letzten  Tage"  im  Jahre 
1857-1858,  (6  Bde.),  which  has  remained  one  of  the  most  popu 
lar  of  the  novelist's  many  works.  The  following  year  appeared 
Reliqnien.  Erzalungen  und  Schilderungen  aus  dem  ivestlichen 
Nordamerika  (3  Bde.).  Many  of  these  sketches  had  been  suggested 
to  him  by  the  souvenirs  of  his  travels  in  America,  now  adorning 
the  walls  of  his  study.  In  this  year,  too,  was  published  Die  Man- 
danenwaise.  Erzahlung  aus  den  Rheinlanden  und  dent  Stromgebict 
des  Missouri  (4  Bde.).  In  1867  came  the  first  of  his  sea-novels, 
Der  Meerkonig  (6  Bde.).  In  this  species  of  fiction  Mollhausen, 
like  Cooper,  won  for  himself  an  enviable  place  in  literature.  In  the 
same  year  appeared  Nord  und  Sud  (2  Bde.).  Der  Hochlandpfeifer 
(6  Bde.)  was  published  in  1868.  During  these  first  years  of  his 
literary  activity,  the  novelist  found  an  able  assistant  in  his  wife,  a 
woman  of  fine  intellectual  attainments  and  literary  discernment.27 
The  novelist's  productivity  during  these  years  is  indeed  astonishing. 
In  1870  appeared  Das  Hundertguldenblatt,  (6  Bde.)  as  well  as  Der 
Piratenlieutenant  (4  Bde.).  In  the  following  year  was  published 
Der  Kesselflickcr  (5  Bde.).  For  most  of  the  material  employed  in 
these  works  Mollhausen  needed  only  to  allow  his  memory  and 
imagination  to  return  to  the  scenes  and  experiences  of  his  various 
journeys  in  America.  Occasionally,  it  appears,  when  more  accurate 
historical  or  scientific  data  was  needed,  the  novelist  would  refer  to 
the  Annual  Reports  of  the  Board  of  Regents  of  the  Smithsonian 
Institution  which  Mollhausen  received  for  a  number  of  years  after 
his  connection  with  that  institution. 

Between  the  years  1871  and  1879  there  had  appeared  Das 
Finkenhaus  (4  Bde.),  Westliche  Fdhrten  (2  Bde.),  Die  Einsied- 
lerinnen  (4  Bde.),  Das  Monogramm  (4  Bde.),  Die  Hydnen  des 
Capitals  (4  Bde.),  Die  Kinder  des  Straf  lings  (4  Bde.),  and  Der 
Reiher  (3  Bde.),  as  well  as  new  editions  of  some  of  his  earlier 
works.  Many  of  these  novels  had  first  appeared  as  serials  in  the 
Buck  fur  Alle  and  in  the  Kolnische  Zeitung,  and  many  were  again 
published  in  various  papers  and  periodicals  after  they  had  appeared 
in  book  form.  Taking  into  consideration  the  great  mass  of 


17  In  the  course  of  a  conversation  with  Frau  Mollhausen,  she  remarked  to 
th>  writer:  "In  den  friiheren  Werken  habe  ich  die  Handschriften  oftmals 
ausgebessert,  besonders  im  Dialog,  der  oft  zu  sehr  an  den  Urwald  erinnerte ! 
An  seinen  Schilderungen,  aber,  blieb  nichts  zu  verbessern.  Die  waren 
untastbar." 


60  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

"America"  fiction  which  had  appeared  before  Mollhausen's,  and 
continued  to  appear  from  the  pens  of  contemporaries  of  Moll 
hausen,  one  wonders  that  there  should  have  been  such  a  demand 
for  his  novels.  Yet  Mollhausen  could  say  with  pride  that  none  of 
his  many  novels  and  stories  ever  went  begging  for  a  publisher.  The 
upright  character  of  the  novelist,  the  optimism  and  love  for  hu 
manity  emanating  from  his  works,  and  the  high  moral  tone  of  the 
same  endeared  him  to  the  hearts  of  the  German  people.  He  was 
read  by  young  and  old,  by  all  classes.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  in  the 
sixties  and  seventies  there  was  no  more  popular,  no  more  widely 
read,  no  more  beloved  German  novelist  than  Balduin  Mollhausen. 
During  the  latter  years  of  the  seventies  the  novelist  entered  on 
terms  of  intimate  friendship  with  Friedrich  Karl.  In  view  of  the 
fact  that  the  novelist's  relations  to  this  famous  Hohenzollern  Prince 
were  of  some  significance  in  his  later  literary  productions,  it  may  not 
be  out  of  place  to  dwell  upon  them  at  some  length.  Friedrich 
Karl,28  "der  rote  Prinz"  as  he  was  commonly  called  by  the  people, 
had  been  Prussian  fieldmarshal-general  in  the  wars  of  1864-66  and 
1870-71.  His  austere  habits  as  a  soldier,  his  serious,  reserved 
manner,  and  his  secluded  life  prevented  the  people  from  ever  learn 
ing  the  real  nature  of  the  hero  of  Metz,  and  already  in  his  lifetime 
he  came  to  be  looked  upon  as  an  heroic,  semi-legendary  figure. 
After  his  return  from  the  wars  the  Prince  held  aloof  from  the 
activities  of  the  court,  and  even  from  the  members  of  his  family. 
He  preferred  to  live  a  secluded  life,  retiring  now  to  Castle  Glie- 
nicke,  now  to  his  Norwegian  log  house  on  the  island  of  Riigen,  and 
then  again  to  his  hunting-lodge  Dreilinden  near  Potsdam.  Drei- 
linden  was  his  favorite  seat,  however,  a  simple  hunting-lodge, 
shaded  by  three  great  lindens.  Here,  each  year  during  the  last 
twenty  years  of  his  life,  he  came  to  spend  several  months.  It  was 
his  custom  frequently  to  invite  men  from  Potsdam  and  Berlin  to 
dine  and  spend  the  evening  with  him.  The  guests  at  these  convivial 
evenings  included  men  from  all  professions,  the  Prince  associating 
with  them  in  a  simple,  informal  manner.  Such  evenings  took  place 
several  times  a  week.  The  number  of  men  invited  at  one  time  was 


8  Friedrich  Karl  Nikolaus,  Prince  of  Prussia,  was  born  March  20, 
1828,  in  the  castle  in  Berlin.  He  was  the  son  of  Prince  Karl  of  Prussia,  the 
third  son  of  King  Friedrich  Wilhelm  III.  As  fieldmarshal-general  of  the 
Prussian  army,  he  distinguished  himself  for  bravery  and  scorn  of  death  in 
many  a  battle  and  won  the  admiration  of  the  German  people  for  his  heroic 
successes  at  the  battle  of  Metz  in  1870.  He  died  June  15,  1884. 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  61 

ten,  making  a  party  of  twelve  with  the  Prince  and  his  adjutant. 
After  a  time  these  groups  of  the  Prince's  friends  came  to  be  called 
"Die  Tafelrunde  von  Dreilinden."  To  be  considered  bona  fide  mem 
bers  of  the  round  table,  however,  the  guests  had  to  be  men  who,  by 
means  of  some  acoomplisliment.  could  contribute  to  the  entertain 
ment  of  the  evening.  Mollhausen's  jovial  nature  and  great  talent 
as  a  raconteur  made  him  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  members  at 
the  round  table,  as  well  as  one  of  those  whom  the  Prince  most 
frequently  invited.  If  a  momentary  pause  had  come  upon  the  com 
pany  the  Prince  would  turn  to  Mollhausen  good-naturedly  with  such 
words  as  these:  "Nun,  mein  Teuerster,  was  haben  Sie  heute?  Ich 
habe  einen  neuen  Cast  und — wenn  Sie  nichts  da  in  der  Rocktasche 
tragen,  dann  erzahlen  Sie  dem  Major  von  Ihrer  Zeit  als  Trapper 
und  vor  Allem  von  den  Omaha-  und  Otoe-Indianern."  And  if 
Mollhausen  had  no  new  tale  to  relate,  one  of  the  old  ones  sufficed 
with  the  Prince's  consoling  words  "Die  alten  Freunde,  die  ich  schon 
kenne  sind  mir  die  liebsten,  also  !"2e 

It  was  in  this  cheerful  circle  of  friends  that  Mollhausen  first 
began  to  court  the  gentler  muse  of  poetry.  His  activity  as  a  poet 
during  the  years  in  which  he  enjoyed  the  friendship  of  the  Prince 
had  its  beginnings  on  the  occasion  of  the  celebration  of  the  birthday 
of  the  Prince  on  March  20,  1879,  when  he  greeted  his  host  with  the 
following  poem,  "Der  Klausner  von  Dreilinden"  : 

Wenn  bleiches  Haar  und  weisser  Bart 
Der  Jahre  Zahl  verkiinden, 
Dann  trag'  noch  immer  Jugendkraft 
Den  Prinzen  von  Dreilinden. 

Und  neuer  Lorbeer  mag  noch  oft 
Den  alten  Kranz  durchwinden, 
Ein  muthig  Ross,  ein  scharfes  Schwert 
Dem  Feldherrn  von  Dreilinden  ! 

Und  wechselt  frohlich  jagdbar  Wild 

In  seiner  Forsten  Griinden 

Dann  Waidmanns  Heil  und  Waidmanns  Durst 

Dem  Jagdherrn  von  Dreilinden. 

*  A  charming  picture  of  an  evening  with  the  Prince  at  Dreilinden  is 
given  by  Baron  von  Dincklage  in  his  Erinnerungen.  See  Appendix. 


62  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

Wenn  Manner  treu  um  seinen  Tisch 
Sich  f roh  zusammen  finden : 
Dann  alter  Wein  und  junger  Witz 
Dem  Gastfreund  von  Dreilinden. 

Um  heit'ren  Gruss  mit  ernstem  Sinn 
Waidmannisch  zu  verbinden : 
Ein  kurz  Halali  dermaleinst 
Dem  Klausner  von  Dreilinden  ! 

Encouraged  by  the  appreciative  manner  with  which  this  poetic 
attempt  was  received,  Mollhausen  now  frequently  entertained  his 
host  and  guests  with  the  reading  of  further  poems.  There 
came,  in  the  course  of  the  years,  a  variety  of  verse  from  his  pen : 
drinking  songs,  poems  to  the  praise  of  the  illustrious  Prince,  hunt 
ing  songs,  and  poetic  narratives  of  western  America.  Thus  came 
into  being  the  "Blaubuch  von  Dreilinden,"  named  for  its  blue 
covering.  Into  this  book  Mollhausen  wrote  from  time  to  time  the 
poems  with  which  he  entertained  the  round  table  on  various  occa 
sions,  and  from  this  book  the  collection  known  as  the  Dreilinden 
Leider  was  later  published.  These  poems,  many  of  them  of  un 
common  interest,  won  for  him  the  name  of  the  "Sanger  von 
Dreilinden". 

In  the  summer  of  1879  Mollhausen  enjoyed  the  honor  of  accom 
panying  the  Prince  upon  an  extended  Scandinavian  cruise,  upon 
which  the  novelist  had  ample  opportunity  to  study  the  romantic 
beauty  of  northern  scenery.  A  series  of  splendid  aquarelles  from  the 
author's  brush  bear  witness  to  his  keen  enjoyment  of  the  beauties 
of  the  fjords  and  other  aspects  of  Scandinavian  landscape.  Also 
this  voyage  was  reflected  in  some  of  his  later  novels,  notably  in  the 
novel  Der  Fanatiker,  in  the  novelette  Engelid,  and  in  the  poem 
Nordlandsklange  in  the  Dreilinden  Lieder.  In  the  course  of  these 
travels  with  the  Prince  it  was  Mollhausen's  pleasure  to  learn  to 
know  King  Oscar  of  Sweden,  who,  in  recognition  of  his  merits  as 
a  literary  man,  conferred  upon  him  the  Order  of  the  Swedish 
Northstar.30 

The  only  dark  cloud  that  came  to  mar  the  brightness  of  the 
novelist's  life  at  this  time  was  the  loss  of  his  second  son  Richard,  a 
bright  and  promising  lad  who,  planning  to  enter  upon  the  career  of 


'Cf.   Letter  No.  30. 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  63 

a  seaman,  set  out  on  a  voyage  and  was  never  seen  again.  The 
vessel  had  disappeared  forever.  The  gloom  which  this  loss  cast 
upon  the  novelist  and  his  good  wife  was  never  quite  dispelled,  in 
spite  of  the  brightness  of  their  later  lives. 

During  the  year  following  upon  his  travels  with  Prince  Fried- 
rich  Karl,  namely  1880,  there  appeared  from  Mollhausen's  pen 
Vier  Fragmentc  (4  Bde.),  Der  Schatz  von  Quivira  (3  Bde.),  and 
Die  Tochter  des  Consuls  (3  Bde.). 

In  the  Gartenlaube  for  1882  was  published  Engelid,  one  of  the 
author's  most  charming  novelettes.  It  called  forth  the  admiration 
of  that  master  of  the  German  Novelle,  Paul  Heyse,  who  requested 
permission  from  Mollhausen  to  use  the  same  as  a  number  in  the 
Neuer  Deutscher  Novellenschatz  which  Paul  Heyse  and  Ludwig 
Lai.stner  were  at  this  time  editing  as  a  continuation  of  Kurz' 
Novellenschatz.:n  Paul  Heyse  had  also  asked  permission  to  print 
the  story  Die  beiden  Fahren32  in  the  same  series.  However,  for 
some  reason  unknown  to  the  writer,  neither  of  the  two  ever 
appeared  in  the  Novellenschatz. 

In  1883  were  published  Der  Fanatiker  (3  Bde.)  and  Der  Leucht- 
turm  am  Michigan  und  andere  Erzahlungen,  the  latter  with  an 
introduction  by  the  eminent  German  novelist,  Theodor  Fontane. 
Der  Haushofmeister  (3  Bde.)  and  Die  leaders  (3  Bde.)  appeared 
in  1884.  In  June  of  this  year  occurred  the  death  of  his  friend. 
Prince  Friedrich  Karl,  whereupon  those  who  had  spent  so  many 
happy  hours  as  guests  of  the  Prince  at  Dreilinden — there  were 
more  than  a  hundred — organized  the  "Prinz  Friedrich  Karl  Vereini- 
gung''  which  met  yearly  in  the  Kaiserhof  at  Berlin  on  October  27 
to  celebrate  the  victory  of  Metz  and  to  do  honor  to  the  memory  of 
its  hero.  At  these  meetings,  presided  over  by  the  young  Emperor 
himself,  Mollhausen  continued  his  role  of  the  "Sanger  von  Drei 
linden."3*  Of  these  later  gatherings  of  the  round  table  after  the 
decease  of  the  Prince  he  writes  at  the  close  of  his  introduction  to  the 
Dreilinden  Lieder:  "Da  die  Tafelrunde  durch  Versetzungen  und  Ab- 
kommandirungen  im  Laufe  der  Jahre  sich  immer  wieder  erneuerte, 
so  konnte  nicht  ausbleiben,  dass  die  Zahl  der  Mitglieder  allmahlich 
weit  iiber  hundert  hinaus  wuchs.  Und  noch  jetzt,  da  der  Tod 


Cf.    Letters  Nos.  31  and  32. 

The  writer  has  had  no  access  to  Die  beiden  Fahren. 

Cf.    Letter  No.  34. 


64  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

bereits  unter  ihnen  lichtete  und  viele  nach  den  entferntesten  Pro- 
vinzen  verschlagen  warden,  treten  am  27.  Oktober,  dem  Ehrentage 
von  Metz,  alljahrlich  bis  zu  achtzig  Herren  als  'Prinz  Friedrich 
Karl-Vereinigung'  in  Berlin  im  Kaiserhof  zum  gemeinsamen 
Mahle  zusammen.  Die  Bedeutung  des  Festes  erhoht,  dass  Seine 
Majestat  der  Kaiser  in  treuer  Pietat  sich  jedesmal  betheiligt,  in 
ergreifender  Weise  des  toten  Feldmarshalls,  des  Bezwingers  der 
Feste  Metz,  gedenkt  und  seine  Worte  durch  ein  stilles  Glas  be- 
kraftigt.  Was  aber  der  unvergessliche  Prinz  und  Klausner  durch 
seine  von  warmem  Empfinden  getragene  Leutseligkeit  unter  den 
Mitgliedern  anbahnte,  durch  die  gleichsam  riihrende  Art,  in  welcher 
er  Gastfreundschaft  iibte  und  die  kleinste  ihm  erwiesene  Aufmerk- 
samkeit  lohnte,  jenes  eigenthiimliche  Gefiihl  der  Zusammengehorig- 
keit:  das  wird  unentwegt  fortbestehen,  bis  die  letzten  beiden  Uber- 
lebenden  dereinst  an  einem  27.  Oktober  ihm  zum  letzten  Mai  ein 
stilles  Glas  weihen." 

In  1886  Mollbausen  changed  his  place  of  residence  from  Pots 
dam  where  he  had  dwelt  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  for  a 
suburban  residence  in  west  Berlin.  His  son  Alexander  had  taken 
up  a  military  career  and  also  resided  in  Berlin.  Here  the  novelist 
spent  the  remaining  years  of  his  life,  and  here  his  surviving  widow 
lives  today.  In  spite  of  his  sixty-one  years  his  literary  labors  by 
no  means  ceased,  as  his  many  novels  published  since  then  testify. 
Each  morning  the  author  was  at  his  desk  and  wrote  until  noon. 
However,  the  afternoons  and  evenings  were  usually  given  to  recrea 
tion.  The  tall,  straight  man,  with  the  vigor  of  a  youth,  but  whose 
white  hair  and  great  patriarchal  beard  gave  him  a  venerable  aspect, 
was  a  familiar  figure  on  the  streets  of  west  Berlin  of  an  afternoon, 
and  old  and  young  knew  him  as  "der  alte  Trapper."  Many  were 
the  friends,  too,  who  found  their  way  to  his  hospitable  home.  There, 
in  his  study,  when  the  spirit  seized  him,  he  would  put  on  his  old 
leather  Indian  coat,  and,  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  the  trophies  of 
his  American  travels,  he  would  regale  his  guests  with  the  memories 
of  forty  years  ago.  For  those  who  sat  and  listened  to  the  graphic 
narrative  and  plastic  descriptions  of  this  rare  story-teller  these 
were  unforgetable  hours. 

In  1886  appeared  Wildes  Blut  (3  Bde.),  and  in  the  following 
year  two  of  his  sea  tales,  Das  Geheimnis  des  Hulks  (i  Bd.)  and 
Das  Loggbuch  des  Kapitains  Eisenfinger  (3  Bde.).  There  followed 
Die  Familie  Melville  (3  Bde.  1889),  Der  Fahrmann  am  Kanadian 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  65 

(3  Bde.  1890),  Hans  Montague  (3  Hde.  1891),  Die  beiden  Yachten 
(3  Bde.  1891)  and  Die  Soldlinge  (3  Bde.  1892).  Another  popular 
novel  of  the  sea,  Kaftein  Meerrose  und  ihre  Kinder  (3  Bde.)  was 
published  in  1893.  In  that  year  too  appeared  Der  Spion  (3  Bde.). 
In  1894  appeared  Der  Talisman  (2  Bde.).  The  fact  that  these 
products  of  the  aged  author's  pen  continued  to  enjoy  a  ready  sale 
points  to  the  fascination  he  exerted  upon  his  readers.  During  these 
years  the  novelist  had  won  and  retained  for  himself  a  vast  numbei 
of  admiring  readers.  He  had  further,  by  means  of  his  zealous  pen, 
amassed  a  considerable  fortune. 

In  remarkable  physical  vigor,  with  a  mental  alertness  and  a  joy 
of  life  that  put  to  shame  many  a  man  younger  by  twenty  years, 
Mollhausen,  on  January  27,  1895,  celebrated  the  anniversary  of  his 
seventieth  birthday  amid  the  numerous  congratulations  of  his  many 
friends  and  admiring  readers.  On  this  occasion  representatives  of 
the  press  and  military  men  tendered  him  a  banquet  at  which  there 
was  abundant  flow  of  wine,  wit  and  humor.  At  this  time  many 
papers  and  periodicals  extended  their  hearty  congratulations  and 
paid  glowing  tributes  to  his  high  character  as  a  man  and  his  merits 
as  a  novelist.84 

**  Among  such  I  mention  here  the  Norddeutsche  Allgemeine  Zeitung 
(Feuilleton,  27.  Jan.,  1895)  with  an  article  on  Balduin  Mollhausen,  signed 
Dr.  P.  As  I  recall,  this  article  is  from  the  pen  of  Professor  Paszkowski,  of 
the  University  of  Berlin,  who  was  a  personal  friend  of  Mollhausen  in 
his  latter  years,  and  through  whom  the  writer  was  introduced  to  the  sur 
viving  members  of  the  novelist's  family.  Dr.  P.  writes  in  part:  "Wer  ihn 
(Mollhausen)  von  seinen  Abenteuern  im  wilden  Westen  erzahlen  hort,  wer 
ihn,  als  Trapper  verkleidet,  in  eine  lustige  Gesellschaft  kommen  sieht,  wer 
Zetige  der  Begeisterung  gewesen,  mit  der  er  beim  Glase  trefflichen  'Rauen- 
thalers'  aus  dem  noch  nicht  veroffentlichten  'Blaubuch  von  Dreilinden' 
humorvolle  Leider  zum  Lobe  des  Prinzen  Friederich  Karl  vortragt,  der 
glaubt  wahrlich  einen  Jiingling  vor  sich  zu  haben,  der  in  jugendfrischer 
Lebendigkeit  Vergangenes  als  Gegenwartiges  zu  empfinden  und  noch  ein- 
mal  zu  durchleben  weiss.  Mollhausen  hat  ein  reich  bewegtes  Leben  hinter 
sich.  Him  brachte  es  Miihe  und  Arbeit,  aber  auch  kostlichen  Lohn :  ihm 
wie  wenigen  Schriftstellern  ist  es  gelungen,  sich  mit  Kopf  und  Feder  ein 
betrachtliches  Vermogen  zusammenzuschreiben,  dessen  Genuss  ihm  die  Gunst 
des  Schicksals  noch  lange  gonne!" 

In  the  Unterhaltungs-Bcilage  of  the  Tdgliche  Rundschau  (26.  Jan.,  1895), 
Freiherr  von  Dincklage  writes:  "Wer  den  Mann  mit  langem  weissem  Voll- 
barte  in  straffer  gerader  Haltung  dahinschreiten  sieht,  wer  den  Vorzug  hat, 
den  alten  Herrn  noch  heute  mit  wahrhaft  jugendlichem  Feuer  von  seinen 
Erlebnissen  im  fernen  'Wildwesten'  des  neuen  Kontinents  erzahlen  zu  hciren, 
der  kann  nur  erstaunen  dariiber,  dass  das  derselbe  Mollhausen  ist,  dessen 
Indianer-Romane  schon  vor  vierzig  Jahren  Jung  und  Alt  begeisterten,  der 
selbe,  der  in  seinen  neuesten  Werken  nach  ebenso  langer  Zeit  noch  immer 
neuen  Stoff  mit  immer  gleicher  Geisteskraft  behandelt.  Unergriindlich  scheint 
der  Born  der  Erlebnisse,  aus  dem  er  schopft.  Freilich,  ein  Moderner  im 


66  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

In  this  year  a  popular  novel  from  the  pen  of  Mollhausen,  Welche 
von  Beiden?  made  its  appearance  as  a  serial  in  the  Bibliothek  der 
Unterhaltung  und  des  Wissens.  In  1897  ^  was  published  in  book 
form  in  two  volumes.  That  the  novelist  had  also  gained  for  himself 
admiring  friends  in  the  western  world  in  which  he  had  laid  the 
scenes  of  so  many  of  his  novels,  goes  forth  from  the  following 
incident.  The  novel  Welche  von  Beiden?  was  running  as  a  serial 
in  the  above  periodical  at  the  time  Mollhausen  celebrated  his  seven 
tieth  birthday.  Shortly  thereafter  the  aged  novelist  was  the  re 
cipient  of  a  gift  which  was  the  source  of  much  pleasure  to  him. 
There  came  one  day  a  large  chest,  which  upon  being  opened,  was 
found  to  contain  a  bronze  statue  of  Feu  follet,  the  heroine  of  his 
latest  novel,  and  a  card  with  the  words :  "Deutsch-Amerika.  Im 
Auftrage.  Welche  von  Beiden?"35 

The  poems  which  Mollhausen  had  upon  various  occasions  pro 
duced  for  the  entertainment  of  Prince  Friederich  Karl  and  his 
round  table,  had  in  the  course  of  time  accumulated  to  quite  a  volume. 
The  possibility  of  their  publication  at  some  future  time  had  been 
broached  by  Mollhausen  on  one  of  his  visits  to  the  Prince  in 
Castle  Glienicke.  The  Prince  was  not  averse  to  their  publication, 
but  only  on  condition  that  it  be  done  after  his  death.  In  1895 
the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  the  victory  of  Metz  was  celebrated 
and  the  erection  of  a  monument  to  its  hero,  Prince  Friederich  Karl, 
undertaken.  It  was  on  this  occasion  that  Mollhausen  arranged 
the  poems  which  he  had  earlier  copied  into  the  "Blaubuch  von 
Dreilinden,"  and  had  them  published  with  a  long  introduction  from 
his  pen,  and  with  illustrations,  as  Die  Dreilinden-Lieder  (1896). 
The  proceeds  from  the  sale  of  this  work  the  author  contributed  to 
the  fund  for  the  monument  to  be  erected  to  his  former  friend. 
Ernst  S.  Mittler  und  Sohn  of  Berlin  very  generously  published  the 

Sinne  des  'Fin  de  Siecle'  ist  Mollhausen  niemals  gewesen  und  niemals 
geworden.  Eine  Sittenreinheit,  eine  edle  und  veredelnde  Anschauung  geben 
auch  seinen  Werken  trotz  aller  Spannung  und  bei  belehrender  Anregung 
denjenigen  Charakter,  den  er  selbst  durch  alle  Wechsel  seines  an  grossen 
Erfahrungen  reichen  Lebens  unbefleckt  zu  bewahren  wusste." 

85  Concerning  this  gift  the  author  relates:  "Sorgfaltig  auspackend,  ent- 
deckten  wir  eine  Bronzestatue,  eine  Fischerin  darstellend,  mit  dem  Vorder- 
theil  eines  Bootes  als  Postament.  Beim  Anblick  des  Kunstwerkes  rief  meine 
Frau  f reudig  erstaunt :  'Feu  follet !'  Und  ich  musste  es  bestatigen — gerade 
so  hatte  ich  mir  das  Madchen  bei  dem  Leuchtthurme  gedacht,  das  ich  einst 
am  Strande  des  Eriesees  kennen  lernte  und  vor  Augen  hatte,  als  ich  Welche 
von  Beiden  schrieb."  (See  Bibliothek  der  Unterhaltung  und  des  Wissens. 
Jahrgang,  1895,  10.  Bd.) 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  67 

volume  of  poems  in  artistic  form  at  their  expense.  Their  warm 
reception  may  perhaps  have  been  due  in  part  to  the  favorable  cir 
cumstances  of  their  publication,  but  certainly  also  to  their  inherent 
beauty  and  interest. 

At  a  time  when  most  men  have  long  since  withdrawn  from 
active  life  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  their  labors,  there  still  sprang 
from  Mollhausen's  virile  imagination  novel  after  novel.  These 
works  have,  it  seems,  lost  none  of  the  charm  which  marked  the 
author's  first  novels  forty  years  earlier.  On  the  contrary,  it  may 
be  said  they  have  gained  in  a  certain  conciseness  of  form  which 
is  often  noticeably  lacking  in  his  more  extensive  novels.  In  the 
ensuing  years  appeared  Der  alte  Korpsbnrche  (1898),  Das  Fegefeuer 
in  Frappe's  Wigwam  (1900),  Der  Postreiter  (1903),  and  the  two 
tales  Die  Vcrlorene  and  Die  Bdrenhaut,  both  in  1904. 

The  wishes  expressed  by  the  novelist's  friends  on  his  seventieth 
birthday  that  it  might  be  granted  them  also  to  extend  him  similar 
congratulations  ten  years  hence  were  to  be  realized.  On  Janu 
ary  27,  1905,  it  was  Mollhausen's  privilege  to  celebrate  the  eightieth 
anniversary  of  his  birth  in  remarkable  freshness  of  body  and  spirit.36 
Press  and  public  alike  united  in  their  heartiest  good  wishes  for  the 
novelist  and  his  faithful  wife,«  and  many  were  received  in  person 
by  the  aged  couple  in  their  hospitable  home  at  Augsburgerstrasse  22. 
Numerous  periodicals  at  this  time  published  sketches  of  the  author's 
life  and  the  writers  of  them  were  unanimous  in  their  praises  of 
him.  Johannes  Trojan,37  the  novelist's  friend  and  admirer,  dedi 
cated  to  him  the  following  congratulatory  poem,  "Zum  achtzigsten 
Geburtstag" : 

Gruss  und  Gliickwunsch  Dir,  dem  Alten, 
Sei  von  Herzen  heut  gesandt. 
Wie  Du  dich  bisher  gehalten, 
Halt  auch  kiinftig  wacker  Hand ! 


*  Paul  Block  in  his  article  Ein  deutscher  Erzdhler.  Zum  So.  Geburts- 
tage  Balduin  Molllwusen  writes:  "Nun,  Amerika  und  die  Literatur  sind 
dem  Alten  gleich  gut  bekommen.  Seine  hohe  Gestalt  ist  noch  ungebeugt,  der 
rote  Fez  steht  gut  zu  dem  kiihn  geschnittenen  Gesicht  mit  dem  langen 
weissen  Bart,  und  wenn  sich  bei  einem  Achtziger  der  Magen  nur  in  der  Weise 
in  Erinnerung  bringt,  dass  er  nach  zwei  Flaschen  guten  Mosels  durch  ein 
gelindes  Sodbrennen  respektvoll  revoltiert,  so  ist  es  mit  der  inneren  Gesund- 
heit  auch  noch  nicht  iibel  gestellt." 

"Johannes  Trojan,  the  poet  and  political  satirist,  was  born  in  Danzig, 
1837.  He  is  the  author  of  much  light  verse,  and  from  1886  to  1909  was 
Editor-in-chief  of  the  popular  humorous  paper  Kladdcradatsch. 


68  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

Immer  Jung  und  frisch  zu  bleiben, 
Nimm  auch  ferner  Dir  zum  Ziel ! 
Sind  doch  auch  fur  alte  Eiben 
Achtzig  Jahr  noch  gar  nicht  viel. 

Blumen  mogen  freundlich  schmiicken 
Deinen  Pfad  noch  manches  Jahr, 
Oft  noch  laben  und  erquicken 
Dich  ein  Trunk,  der  rein  und  klar. 

Wie  zum  Muster  langst  genommen 
Hab  ich  Dich,  Du  wackrer  Mann, 
Und  ich  denk'  Dir  nachzukommen, 
Wenn  ich  es  nur  irgend  kann. 

The  German  emperor,  Wilhelm  II,  whose  birthday  is  also  cele 
brated  on  January  27,  expressed  his  good  wishes  and  regard  for 
the  novelist  by  conferring  upon  him  the  Order  of  the  Crown,  third 
class. 

As  a  response  to  the  many  manifestations  of  good  will  and  ad 
miration  on  the  part  of  friends  and  the  public,  Mollhausen  issued 
the  following  expressive  poem: 

DANKSAGUNG 

zum   27.    Januar    1905 

Das  lezte  Lied  eines  Achtzigjahrigen 

Der  Abend  sinkt,  der  Tag  hat  sich  geneiget, 
Ein  Tag,  der  voile  achtzig  Jahre  zahlt. 
Wie  kosend  der  Erinnerung  entsteiget 
Ein  Bild,  das  heiter  farbenreich  gewahlt. 

Tief  ernst  zugleich,  wo  in  demselben  Rahmen 
Nach  Friedhofsart  Denkstein  an  Stein  sich  reiht, 
Und  deren  jeder  tragend  einen  Namen, 
Der  so  gelaufig  einst  in  goldner  Zeit. 

Es  tauchen  auf  bef  reundete  Gestalten ; 
In  Wort  und  Blick  gibt  Ubermut  sich  kund ; 
Wen  storte  damals  des  Geschickes  Walten, 
So  lang  das  Herz  noch  jugendlich  gesund. 


Balduin  AfollhauscH,  The  German  Cooper  69 

Dahin,  dahin!     Wo  blieben  die  Gespielen? 
Wo  Freunde,  engverbunden,  bis  der  Drang 
Vermessnen  Strebens  nach  den  hochsten  Zielen 
Zum  Scheiden  von  der  siissen  Heimat  zwang? 

Was  ward  aus  kampfbereiten  Kameraden 
In  Tagen,  sturmbewegt  durch  Pobelwahn, 
Und  andren,  die  auf  unwegsamen  Pfaden 
In  ferner  Wildniss  brachen  trotzig  Bahn? 

Dahin,  dahin  die  lebensfrohen  Zeugen 
Verrauschter  Lust,  ob  friiher  oder  spat; 
Der  Schiedsspruch  fiel,  sie  alle  mussten  beugen 
Sich  vor  des  Todes  rinst'rer  Majestat. 

Nur  einer  ragt  noch,  wie  die  morsche  Weide, 
Die  einsam  traumt  auf  feuchtem  Uf errand 
Des  Baches,  der  entstromt  der  grimen  Heide 
Und  sie  als  zarten  Schossiing  schon  gekannt. 

Der  Schatten  weicht.    Trostlich  erwachet  Helle. 
Was  Wehmut  schuf,  tritt  nebelhaft  zuriick. 

U  ic  iiuiaer  Z,auuer  wirkt  an  dessen  btelie 
Die  Mahnung  an  ein  letztes  reines  Gliick. 

Ein  Gliick,  das  giplelt  in  den  heben  Grussen, 
Dir  teilnahmvoil  entsanclt  von  nah  und  tern, 
Und  wie  es  froh  und  dankbar  zu  geniessen, 
Nur  wenigen  vergonnt  ein  guter  Stern. 

Drum  alien  Dank,  die  gleichsam  Blumen  sireuten 
In  Fiille  auf  mein  Restchen  Lebenspfad, 
Und  iiberreich  ein  altes  Herz  erfreuten, 
Das  Zukunftstraumen  liingst  entsaget  hat. 

Blieb  auch  Erfolg  im  stiirmischen  Erjagen 
Weit  hinter  dem  zuriick,  das  ich  erstrebt, 
So  darf  am  Schluss  vielleicht  ich  nunmehr  sagen : 
Ich  habe  doch  nicht  ganz  umsonst  gelebt. 

In  answer  to  the  above  pathetic  lyric,  one  of  the  novelist's  readers 
and  admirers,  Georg  Gerves,  wrote  the  following  verses,  which 
were  published  in  the  Deutsche  Warie : 


70  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

AN  BALDUIN  MOLLHAUSEN 

Ich  las  Dein  Lied,  Dein  letztes  wie  Du  sagtest, 
Doch,  wackerer  Greis,  das  glaubst  Du  selber  nicht; 
Dein  Geist,  er  bleibt,  Millionen  iiberragend, 
Ein  Eels,  an  den  des  Alters  Woge  bricht. 

Dein  Genius,  der  zur  Jugend  sich  gesellte, 
Blieb  treu  dem  Mann  und  treu  bleibt  er  dem  Greis. 
Der  Lorbeer  grunt,  in  Silberlocken  flechtend 
Zum  alten  Kranz  das  junge,  frische  Reis. 

Du  klagst  der  Freunde,  trauerst  um  Gespielen, 
Die  zweigten  schon  vom  Lebenspfade  ab, 
Sie  leben  ja,  Unsterblichkeit  erzielend, 
Als  sie  Dein  Genius  dem  Leben  wiedergab. 

Ich  kenne  sie  und  liebe  die  Gestalten, 

Wie  sie  Dein  Geist,  Dein  gold'nes  Herz  uns  gab, 

Ich  kenne  sie  und  hass  'die  Kreaturen, 

Die  uns  Dein  Zorn,  uns  die  Entriistung  gab. 

Ich  folgte  Dir  durch  feme,  schone  Lander, 
Die  Du  zum  Wohle  anderer  bereist, 
Ich  lauschte  gern,  wenn  heiter  er  erzahlend, 
Gefallig  gab  sich  uns  Dein  reger  Geist. 

1st  Dir's  nun  wohl  in  Deinen  alten  Tagen, 
Weil  Du  geschafft,  gerungen  und  gestrebt, 
So  its's  nicht  recht,  bescheiden,  nur  zu  sagen : 
"Ich  habe  doch  nicht  ganz  umsonst  gelebt." 

In  achtzig  Jahren  hast  Du  Dir  erschaffen, 
Ein  Denkmal,  gross  und  trotzend  ew'ger  Zeit 
Als  edler  Mensch,  als  Heros  deutschen  Geistes 
Hast  Du  errungen  Dir  Unsterblichkeit ! 

To  the  astonishment  of  his  friends  and  readers  there  appeared 
in  1905  from  the  pen  of  Mollhausen  Sankt  Elmsfeuer  und  andere 
Novellen,  Bilder  aus  dem  Reiche  der  Natur,  and  Der  Vaquero,  cer 
tainly  no  mean  output  for  one  year,  in  consideration  of  the  author's 
advanced  age.  Bilder  aus  dem  Reiche  der  Natur,  a  series  of  twenty- 
one  essays  on  various  phenomena  of  nature,  especially  received 
warm  commendations  from  the  critics  for  its  poetic  presentation. 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  71 

On  February  6,  1905,  it  was  granted  the  aged  author  to  cele 
brate  the  golden  anniversary  of  his  wedding  by  the  side  of  his  re 
markable  wife,  his  devoted  companion  during  fifty  years,  surrounded 
by  the  members  of  his  family  and  numerous  guests.  Before  a  beau 
tifully  decorated  altar  reared  in  the  home  of  the  Mollhaftsens,  the 
Reverend  Dr.  Rogge,  preacher  at  the  court,  pronounced  a  bene 
diction  upon  the  aged  couple  and  presented  them  a  jubilee  medal, 
the  gift  from  the  emperor.  Upon  this  the  relatives  and  intimate 
friends  and  their  hosts  sat  down  to  a  banquet.  Upon  this  occasion 
there  was  circulated  among  the  guests  an  interesting  pamphlet  dedi 
cated  to  the  wedding  pair.  It  was  entitled  Balduin  Mollhausen 
nnd  der  "Rote  Prins".  Erinnerungen  by  Freiherr  von  Dincklage, 
in  which  he  relates  of  his  first  meeting  with  Mollhausen,38  his  re 
lations  to  the  Prince,  and  of  the  habits  of  the  latter. 

Balduin  Mollhausen's  long  and  prosperous  life  was  drawing  to 
a  close.  Forty-five  large  works  in  one  hundred  and  fifty-seven 
volumes,  eighty  novelettes  in  twenty-one  volumes,  and  nearly  three 
hundred  water  colors  bear  witness  to  his  indefatigable  zeal  and  the 
fertility  of  his  mind.  The  aged  novelist  could  look  upon  his  work 
in  the  joyful  realization  that  he,  like  but  few  German  novelists,  had 
for  nearly  half  a  century  entertained  a  public  with  fiction  in  which 
he  had  not  hesitated  to  present  the  realities  of  life,  but  always 
maintained  lofty  ideals  and  thus  afforded  sources  of  pure  enjoy 
ment  for  thousands  upon  thousands. 

On  May  28,  1905,  on  a  bright  and  sunny  morning  Balduin  Moll 
hausen  peacefully  passed  away.  Of  his  death  his  friend  Karl  Voll- 
rath  wrote  upon  the  following  day  :39  "Nun  hat  ihn  der  Tod  iiber- 
wunden,  gegen  den  sich  Mollhausen's  kernige  Natur  noch  bis  in  die 
letzten  Tage  hinein  wehrte.  Nicht  leicht  wurde  dem  Allbezwinger 
der  Sieg.  Aber  am  Sonntag  Yormittag,  als  die  strahlende  Maisonne 
in  des  tapferen  Mannes  Schlafzimmer  hereinschien,  als  wollte 
sie  ihm  zum  letzen  Male  ihre  ganze  Pracht  und  Herrlichkeit  zeigen, 
da  brach  der  Tod  das  Herz  des  nimmermuden  Mannes.  Da 
durfte  ihm  der  alte  Wunsch  langer  Jahre  erfiillt  werclen,  dass  man 
ihm  einst  umlegen  mochte  den  alten  Trapperrock  von  weichem 
Biiffelleder,  den  er  vor  mehr  als  fiinf  Jahrzehnten  im  fernen  Westen 
Amerikas  in  dem  gluhenden  Sonnenbrande  der  Prairie  wie  in  der 


*  See  Appendix. 

"  See    Berliner    Volkszeitung.    Chef  redakteur,    Karl    Vollrath.     No.    250, 
Montag,  29.    Mai,  1905. 


72  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

eisumstarrten  Wildheit  der  Rocky  Mountains  unter  Hunderten  von 
Gefahren  jahrelang  getragen  hatte.  Friedlich  hat  er  nun  auf  seinem 
Sterbelager  die  Hande  gefaltet.  Und  wie  ein  Schlummernder,  der 
in  seinen  Traumen  an  die  gliickseligen  Jagdgefilde  der  Rothaute 
denkt,  deren  Leben  und  Treiben  er  dereinst  mit  Liebe  umfasste 
und  mit  unnachahmlicher  Plastik  schilderte,  so  ruht  er  aus  von 
seiner  Arbeit." 

He  lies  buried  in  the  beautiful  garrison  graveyard  near  the 
Hasenheide,  on  the  outskirts  of  the  Prussian  capital.  His  grave 
is  marked  by  a  stone  with  the  simple  inscription : 

Hier  ruhet  in  Gott 

Balduin 
Mollhausen 

geb.  zu  Bonn  27.  Januar  1825 
gest.  zu  Berlin  28.  Mai  1905 

Mein  Leben  war  kostlich 
Denn  es  war  Miihe  und  Arbeit 


MOLLHAUSEN    IN    HlS    STUDY 


CHAPTER  III 
THE  WORKS  OF  MOLLHAUSEN 

When  Mollhausen's  first  novel  Der  Halbindianer  appeared  in 
1861  the  transatlantic,  or  exotic  "America"  novel  was  already 
well  established  in  Germany.  Sealsfield,  recognized  as  its  founder, 
had  already  ceased  in  his  literary  activities ;  Gerstiicker,  his  well 
known  successor,  had  been  a  favorite  of  the  German  reading  public 
for  fifteen  years ;  and  Strubberg  had  begun  his  long  series  of  exotic 
novels  in  1858.  Nevertheless,  Mollhausen  won  for  himself  a  large 
reading  public,  and  remained  a  favorite  for  nearly  fifty  years.  He 
lacked  the  originality  of  Sealsfield,  nor  did  he  write  with  the  latter's 
brilliant  pen ;  he  did  not  paint  western  scenery  with  the  lurid  splen 
dor  of  Strubberg;  he  possessed  little  of  Gerstacker's  facile  humor; 
in  point  of  form,  however,  Mollhausen  is  the  master  of  all  these. 
Sealsfield,  Gerstacker,  and  Strubberg  presented  in  their  works  a 
great  mass  of  cultural  and  ethnographic  detail,  only  too  frequently 
sacrificing  form.  Mollhausen  knew  how  to  subordinate  such  ma 
terial,  and  at  the  same  time  was  more  skillful  in  constructing  and 
unravelling  a  well-motivated  plot.  He  wrote  for  the  Germans,  so 
to  speak,  the  great  chansons  de  geste  of  the  western  world.  There 
on  the  frontier,  on  the  prairies,  in  the  mountain  fastnesses,  men  in 
elemental  vigor  were  enacting  the  deeds  that  would  furnish  material 
for  future  epics.  Mollhausen,  peculiarly  fitted  by  virtue  of  his 
several  expeditions  to  the  Far  West  in  its  pioneer  days,  seized  upon 
this  material,  and  presented  to  his  countrymen  in  artistic  form  the 
mournful  fate  of  the  American  Indian,  the  struggles  of  the  Euro 
peans  with  special  reference  to  those  of  his  own  race  in  winning 
for  themselves  a  place  in  the  new  world,  and  the  gradual  fusing 
of  these  varied  elements  into  a  great  nation  at  its  most  formative 
period.  It  was  no  easy  task.  The  reader  may  ask  himself  whether 
there  has  been  any  American  novelist  who  has,  in  so  many  interesting 
works,  pictured  for  posterity,  the  westward  course  of  our  own 
nation  in  the  nineteenth  century,  in  such  a  comprehensive  manner. 

Mollhausen's  many  novels  may  be  roughly  divided  into  two 
groups :  first,  those  earlier  ones  whose  action  takes  place  wholly 
on  American  soil,  such  as  Der  Halbindianer  and  its  sequels,  and 


74  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

Das  Mormonenmddchen;  secondly,  those  later  ones,  by  far  the  more 
numerous,  which  have  for  their  scenes  of  action  both  the  old  and 
the  new  world,  but  whose  threads  are  finally  united.  In  view  of 
the  consequent  complexity  of  these  later  novels,  their  action  is 
perhaps  sometimes  not  so  logical  as  that  of  the  earlier  novels,  yet 
Mollhausen  has  shown  himself  exceedingly  skillful  in  the  manage 
ment  of  such  complicated  plots.  One  critic,  Dr.  Hermann  Ethe,  in 
an  essay  Der  trans  atlantisch-exotische  Roman  und  seine  Hauptver- 
treter  in  der  modernen  deutschen  Literatur1  points  out  that  the  results 
of  Mollhausen's  efforts  to  unite  the  threads  of  a  story  with  so  greatly 
separated  fields  of  action  as  Europe  and  America  must  frequently 
impress  the  reader  as  rather  fantastic  and  fictitious.  Mollhausen, 
having  himself  felt  this,  he  goes  on,  endeavored  to  justify  this  weak 
ness  with  these  words  in  his  introduction  to  the  Meerkonig:  "Durch 
das  Wachsthum  der  Verkehrsmittel  horen  aber  die  Entfernungen 
auf,  und  in  Zwischenraumen  von  vielenhundert  Meilen  finden  Ereig- 
nisse  statt,  welche  durch  die  an  denselben  betheiligten  Personen  in 
naher  Beziehung  zu  einander  stethen."  In  this  connection  it  is 
interesting  to  note  that  Mollhausen  here  expresses  an  idea  which 
only  many  years  later  received  support  at  the  hands  of  a  master 
of  the  German  novel,  Friederich  Spielhagen,  in  his  very  suggestive 
essay  Die  epische  Dichtung  imter  dem  wechselnden  Zeichen  des 
Verkehrs  (Die  Zukunft,  17,  1896).  He  writes  in  part:  "Und 
ganz  gewiss  ist  es  doch  eine  unabweisliche  Konsequenz  des  Ver- 
kehres  von  heute,  dass  seine  Mittel :  der  Dampf  und  die  Elektri- 
zitat,  in  den  Romanen  wie  Essen  und  Trinken  frei  verwandt  werden 
und  ihren  Verfassern  eine  Welt  friiher  nicht  gekannter  Anregungen 

bieten,  Kombinationen  ermoglichen Die  odysseeische 

Kentniss  fremder  Lander,  Stadte  und  Sitten,  die  im  vorigen  Jahr- 
hundert  noch  als  Privileg  verhaltnissmassig  Weniger,  besonders 
Wohlsituirter  war,  verschaffen  sich  heute  Tausende  und  Tausende 
mit  dem  Auf  wand  oft  recht  bescheidener  Mittel;  der  Handwerker 
von  heute  weiss,  wenn  nicht  durch  Autopsie,  vermittelt  durch  so- 
zialdemokratische  und  andere  Kongresse,  so  durch  die  Lecture  der 
Zeitungen  mehr  von  den  okonomischen  und  sittlichen  Zustanden  der 
anderen  Nationen  als  vormals  so  mancher  Gelehrte.  Kann  es  uns 
da  Wunder  nehmen,  wenn  der  Roman,  das  Spiegelbild  des  Lebens, 
eine  Internationale  Physiognomic  gewinnt?" 


*Cf.  Essays  und  Studien.  Berlin.  1872. 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  75 

Mollhausen  together  with  the  other  writers  of  exotic  fiction,  left 
to  German  literature  a  rich  legacy  of  healthy  realism.  But  more 
than  any  of  these  writers  he  saw  the  romance  and  poetry  that  lay 
on  the  frontier  and  in  the  wilderness  of  western  America.  He  was 
at  heart  a  romanticist.  In  this  respect  he  resembled  Cooper.  In 
fact  there  is  none  who  could  be  more  fittingly  termed  "The  German 
Cooper."  It  was  Cooper's  novels  which  had,  directly  or  indirectly, 
stimulated  the  great  mass  of  German  Indian  fiction  which  had  fol 
lowed  upon  their  appearance.  Mollhausen's  own  delight  in  Cooper 
goes  forth  from  a  passage  in  his  Tagebuch  einer  Reise  vom  Mis 
sissippi  nach  der  Sudsee  in  which  he  speaks  of  his  travels  with  the 
Ottoe  Indians  during  his  first  stay  in  America.  Fie  writes :  "I 
learned  to  look  with  pride  on  my  ragged  mocassins  and  scarred  feet, 
and  to  laugh  at  the  icy  north  wind  blowing  on  my  naked  breast.  . 
.  .  .  I  felt  in  the  most  joyous  spirits,  and  seemed  to  be  realizing 
the  dreams  of  my  youth  (dreams  conjured  up  certainly  by  Cooper 
and  Washington  Irving),  when  I  sent  a  bullet  through  the  skull  of 
a  bear,  or  gave  some  mighty  stag  the  coup  de  grace." 

Mollhausen  was  far  from  being  an  imitator  of  Cooper,  yet  there 
are  evidences  in  his  works  to  testify  to  the  stimulating  force  of 
Cooper's  novels.  Of  these  the  following  may  possess  some  interest. 
It  may  be  said  that  of  all  Cooper's  novels,  The  Last  of  the  Mohicans 
lias  probably  left  most  abundant  traces  in  the  works  of  his  followers. 
So  in  Mollhausen's  Wildes  Blut  we  note  the  following  echoes.  The 
medicine  man  says  of  himself :  "Towaka  Koti  lebt  noch.  Nie  freite 
er  urn  ein  Kaskaskia-Madchen.  Paart  der  Fuchs  sich  mit  dem 
Eichhorn?  Nein.  Towaka  Koti  ist  der  letzte  seiner  Familie." 
Later  the  old  Indian  woman  says :  "Die  Haniks  sind  verschwunden. 
Ich  bin  die  letzte  Hanick  Wisah;  denn  mein  Sohn  Wiskun  wird 
vor  mir  sterben."  In  Die  Soldlinge  the  fate  of  the  aged  Zuni  Indian 
Ahuitzotl,  the  last  king  of  Anahuac,  the  last  of  the  Aztecs,  in  his 
grotto  in  the  Casas  Grandes,  also  harks  back  to  The  Last  of  the 
Mohicans. 

Many  of  Mollhausen's  prominent  characters  are  purely  romantic 
in  nature,  and  frequently  suggest  the  Cooperian  character.  Such 
are  the  half-breed  Indian  maid  Coralle,  the  foster-daughter  of  Miss 
Lonesome,  the  proprietress  of  a  frontier  store  in  Missouri  in  the 
novel  Die  Einsiedlerinnen;  Lilac,  the  Indian  girl  who  dies  of  unre 
quited  love  in  Die  Tochter  des  Konsuls;  the  white  child  Charitas  in 
Der  Leuchtturm  am  Michigan;  Feu  follet  in  Welche  von  Beiden; 


76  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

and  Taito,  the  stolen  white  child  adopted  by  the  Kioways  in  Die 
Traders.  Some  of  these  characters  also  bear  strong  traces  of  Rous- 
seauism. 

In  the  story  Der  Hornfrosch  in  his  Reliquien  Mollhausen  seems 
to  aim  at  a  realistic  effect  by  contrasting  a  Cooperian  Indian.  In 
this  story  is  Oglala,  an  Indian  warrior,  who  "durch  seine  aussere 
Erscheinung  nicht  wenig  an  die  romantischen  Gestalten  Coopers  er- 
mnerte." 

Cooper's  Natty  Bumpo,  one  of  the  most  original  creations  in 
American  fiction,  is  a  character  which  few  writers  of  Indian  tales 
have  been  able  to  resist.  The  trapper  or  guide  of  western  America 
is  a  favorite  character  with  Mollhausen,  and  appears  again  and  again 
in  his  works.  In  Der  Halbindianer  is  the  fine  old  trapper  and  guide 
Lefevre;  one  of  the  best  characters  in  Der  Majordomo  is  the  old 
backwoodsman  and  trapper  Gale,  who  lives  in  the  Tulare  Valley; 
in  Der  Talisman  we  meet  the  old  guide  Vilanderie,  called  "Fallen- 
steller  und  Fahrtensucher" ;  in  the  same  novel  is  introduced  the 
Canadian  trapper  Laboux.  In  all  these  characters  it  is  not  difficult 
for  the  reader  to  recognize  certain  traits  of  their  famous  literary 
prototype,  old  Leatherstocking. 

Like  Cooper  Mollhausen  deplored  the  passing  of  the  redman, 
and  with  him  the  passing  of  a  poetry  "die  nicht  durch  Eisenbahn, 
nicht  durch  Brennereien  und  Fabriken,  nicht  durch  eine  gewissen- 
lose  innere  Politik,  noch  durch  salbungsvolle  Lehren  fanatischer 
Priester  ersetzt  werden  kann."  Mollhausen,  however,  did  not  wish 
to  present  an  idealized  picture  of  the  Indian.  He  was  himself  too 
well  acquainted  with  the  shiftless  redskin  of  the  fifties,  who,  unlike 
the  Indian  of  Cooper's  novels,  had  suffered  long  years  of  shame 
and  dishonor  at  the  hands  of  his  white  conquerors.  Strubberg  liked 
to  deal  with  masses  of  Indians.  We  follow  entire  tribes  on  their 
hunts,  war-paths  and  migrations.  We  witness  great  tribal  struggles 
and  are  not  spared  atrocious  massacres  of  the  whites.  But  Moll 
hausen  liked  to  portray  the  isolated  types  he  found  along  the  borders 
of  civilization :  the  lazy  redskin  loitering  about  the  frontier  store 
or  trading-post,  the  solitary  trapper  or  fisherman  who  chooses  to 
remain  among  the  whites  rather  than  follow  the  sad  remnant  of 
his  tribe  to  the  farther  West,  the  Indian  converted  by  the  proselyt 
ing  Mormon,  or  the  government  charge  on  the  reservation. 

Mollhausen  further  resembles  Cooper  in  that  he  also  won  high 
recognition  as  a  writer  of  sea-novels,  a  species  of  fiction  which  is 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  77 

rather  rare  in  German  literature.  The  sea-novels  Die  beiden  Yach- 
ten.  Kaptein  Meerrose  und  ihre  Kinder,  and  Das  Loggbuch  des 
Kapitains  Eisenfinger,  are  among  the  most  readable  of  Mollhausen's 
many  novels. 

Mollhausen  deserves  special  praise  for  the  manner  in  which 
lie  has  treated  German  emigration  in  his  novels,  a  phase  of  his 
activities  which  cannot  help  but  be  of  significance  to  the  student 
of  our  cultural  history.  Sealsfield  had  shown  but  little  admiration 
for  the  struggling  German  in  the  new  world,  Gerstacker  and  Strub- 
berg  were  both  rather  kindly  disposed,  and  Ruppius  was  prone  to 
idealize  the  German  over  against  his  fellow  pioneers.  With  the 
humaneness,  optimism,  and  sympathy  with  human  frailty  which 
pervades  all  his  works,  Mollhausen  has,  in  his  long  list  of  novels 
portrayed  a  vast  gallery  of  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  his  country 
men  in  the  new  world,  their  struggles  in  gaining  a  foothold  among 
the  seething  racial  elements,  their  sufferings,  their  yearning  for 
the  land  that  gave  them  birth,  their  achievements,  and  their  con 
tributions  to  the  development  of  a  great  nation. 

The  following  general  criticism  of  Mollhausen's  works  is  not 
only  interesting  but  of  considerable  significance,  coming  as  it  does 
from  the  pen  of  a  writer  who  has  had  a  marked  influence  upon  the 
modern  German  novel.  In  an  introduction  to  Mollhausen's  Leucht- 
turm  am  Michigan  und  andere  Erzahlnngen  (1883),  Theodor 
Fontane  writes: 

"Von  niemand  Geringerem  als  Lord  Byron  riihrt  der  Ausspruch 
her,  dass  er  dem  Ehrgeiz  und  dem  Reisen  die  Hauptanregung  zu 
dichterischer  Produktion  verdanke.  Der  moderne  Mensch  wird 
ihm  nach  eigener  Erfahrung  zustimmen,  und  zwar  je  moderner 
desto  mehr.  Denn  auch  auf  diesen  Punkt  hin  angesehen,  unter- 
scheiden  sich  die  Zeiten,  und  wenn  das  ritterlich  und  religios  emp- 
findende  Mittelalter  in  einem  dieser  Empfindung  entsprechendem 
Geiste  dichtete,  so  die  Gegenwart  nicht  mehr  oder  doch  nur  in  sehr 
vereinzelten  Ausnahmefallen.  Auch  mit  der  'Minne'  geht  es  berg- 
ab;  was  sich  dafiir  ausgibt,  bedeutet  nicht  viel.  In  der  That,  im 
Wettstreit  mit  dem  noch  vor  wenig  Jahrzehnten  fast  alleinher- 
schenden  Liebesgott  ist  der  Gott  mit  dem  'gefliigelten  Fuss'  immer 
machtiger  geworden,  und  wenn  zu  Lord  Byron's  Zeiten  das  Reisen 
oft  nur  Anstoss  und  Anregung  zu  dichterischer  Produktion  gab, 
so  gibt  es  jetzt  vielfach  auch  den  Stoff.  Ein  glanzendes  Beispiel 
dafiir  ist  Balduin  Mollhausen Alles  was  B.  Mollhausen 


78  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

produziert,  hat  eine  starke  Familienahnlichkeit ;  es  sind  Friichte 
vom  selben  Baum.  Aber  diese  Familienahnlichkeit  entstammt  nur 
einer  verwandten  Art  und  Weise  die  Stoffe  zu  behandeln ;  die  Stoffe 
selbst  sind  sehr  verschieden.  Aesthetisch  und  kritisch  angesehen. 
gehoren  seine  Bucher  ein  und  derselben  Richtung  an,  im  Hinblick 
auf  Unterhaltungs-  und  Belehrungsfahigkeit  aber  bietet  sie  stets 
etwas  Neues.  Seine  Stoffe  sind  sehr  verschieden,  sagt'  ich,  und  nur 
in  einer  Beziehung  ergibt  sich  auch  hier  eine  Verwandtschaf t :  sie 
sind  alle  gleich  sicher  und  gleich  geschickt  gewahlt.  Er  hat  eine 
gliickliche  Hand  und  weiss  im  voraus  dass  sie  gefallen  werden. 
Das  Wort  Platens:  'Handlung  ist  der  Welt  allmachtiger  Puls' 
konnte  Mollhausens  Devise  sein.  Er  hat  eine  Vorliebe  fur  einfache 
Naturen,  die  mehr  handeln  als  sprechen.  In  Allem,  was  er  schreibt, 
geschieht  Etwas,  und  die  Dinge,  die,  so  lang  es  Menschen  gibt,  die 
Menschen  immer  am  meisten  interessiert  haben  und  immer  wieder 
am  meisten  interessieren  werden,  diese  Dinge  fiihrt  er  uns  vor. 
Er  ist  der  Schriftsteller  einer  frischen  lebendigen  Handlung;  das 
ist  das  erste.  Was  aber  diesem  ersten  auf  dem  Fusse  f olgt,  das  ist : 
er  ist  auch  der  Mann  der  Schilderung.  Vor  Allem  seine  Natur- 
schilderungen  sind  von  bemerkenswerter  Schonheit  und  fesseln  auch 
da  noch  wo  sie  mehr  Raum  einnehmen,  als  sie  nach  dem  Gesetze 

des  Romans  vielleicht  einnehmen  sollten In  einem  ge- 

wissen  Zusammenhange  mit  dem  hier  Gesagten  ist  es,  dass  die 
Charaktere,  die  seine  Phantasie  schafft,  weder  von  einer  beson- 
deren  Mannigfaltigkeit,  noch  von  einer  besonderen  Tiefe  sind.  Aber 
dies  bedeutet  innerhalb  gewisser  Grenzen  eher  ein  Lob  als  einen 
Tadel,  und  kann  fast  als  Kennzeichen  des  eigentlichen  Erzahlers 
gelten.  Der  eigentliche  Erzahler  ist  in  den  seltensten  Fallen  ein 
hervorragender  Charakteristiker,  er  gibt  das  Ereigniss  als  solches 
und  halt  sich  mit  einer  intimen  innerlichen  Stellung  seiner  Figuren 
zu  dem,  was  geschieht,  nicht  sonderlich  auf.  Alle  seine  Figuren 
sind  ihm  vielmehr  nur  Trager  seiner  Geschichte ;  er  braucht  sie  zur 
Aushilfe,  wahrend  sie  dem  Dramatiker  alles  oder  doch  fast  alles 

bedeuten Mollhausen  ist  Erzahler  pur  sang,  und  weil 

er  es  ist,  ist  er  in  einem  seltenen  Grade  popular.  Er  unterhalt,  er 
spannt,  er  befriedigt.  Dabei  nichts  von  Frivolitat;  seine  Schriften 
durchweht  vielmehr  ein  sittlicher  Hauch,  der  wohltuend  beriihrt, 
erhebt  und  lautert." 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  79 

The  writer  has  attempted  in  the  following  pages  the  rather  labori 
ous  task  of  giving,  even  if  only  briefly,  the  contents  of  Mollhausen's 
many  works  in  the  order  of  their  appearance. 

Tagebuch  einer  Reise  vom  Mississippi  nach  den  Kiisten  der 
Siidsee.  Eingefiihrt  von  Alex.  v.  Humboldt.  Mit  13  Illustrat.  in 
Oelfarben  u.  Tondr.,  10  Holzschn.  u.  i  (lith.)  Karte.  Leipzig.  1858. 

This  is  the  title  of  the  work  with  which  Mollhausen  began  his 
long  literary  career.  At  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  there 
were  very  few  German  books  dealing  with  the  Far  West  of  North 
America  which  measured  up  to  the  above  for  wealth  and  accuracy 
of  scientific  material.  Certainly  none  had  appeared  under  more 
propitious  circumstances.  This  work,  though  only  published  in  1858, 
seems  already  to  have  been  begun  during  those  first  early  days  of 
leisure  which  followed  upon  his  return  from  America  in  the  autumn 
of  1854,  he  having  been  appointed  by  the  King  of  Prussia  as  cus 
todian  of  the  royal  libraries  in  Potsdam.  Alexander  von  Humboldt 
had  already  observed  a  natural  talent  for  writing  in  the  reports  of 
travel  which  Mollhausen  had  prepared  for  the  Berlin  Geographic 
Society,  while  still  on  the  expedition  to  the  Pacific.  As  early  as 
1855,  Humboldt  had,  it  appears,2  read  at  least  a  part  of  the  manu 
script  of  the  above  work,  and  expressed  his  pleasure  in  the  rich 
material  offered  in  it,  as  well  as  in  the  form  and  animated  style  of 
his  narrative.  He  thought  it  would  not  be  difficult  to  find  a  pub 
lisher.  Upon  the  completion  of  the  work  Humboldt  was  even 
pleased  to  write  an  introduction  to  it,  a  remarkable  token  ot  his 
regard  for  Mollhausen  when  we  recall  that  the  great  naturalist  had,, 
in  his  long  life  only  written  prefaces  for  four  different  works.  "In 
the  present  instance,"  he  writes  in  this  preface,  "I  have  voluntarily 
undertaken  the  task,  from  the  esteem  for  the  untiring  energy  and 
activity  manifested  by  the  author  in  an  important  undertaking,  as 
well  as  for  the  modest  integrity  of  his  vigorous  and  honorable  char 
acter,  and  the  remarkable  artistic  talent  which  he  has  developed, 
almost  wholly  by  the  study  of  Nature."  In  conclusion  he  adds: 
"His  fresh  and  animated  descriptions  of  wild  nature  in  all  the  mani 
fold  variety  of  her  forms,  of  the  uncivilized  state  of  the  native 
tribes,  and  of  the  habits  of  various  species  of  animals,  evince  a 
keen  sensibility  that  naturally  finds  adequate  expression  in  language. 
What  Balduin  Mollhausen  has  learned  of  Nature  through  so  many 


'See  Letter  No.  14  in  the  Appendix 


8o  Balduin  Mdllhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

vicissitudes  and  privations,  though  with  many  compensatory  pleas 
ures,  has  not  been  lost  to  his  intellectual  culture;  as  Schiller  says, 
with  beautiful  simplicity,  'Man  himself  grows  with  his  aims'." 

The  book  sets  forth,  in  the  easy,  rambling  fashion  of  a  diary, 
the  experiences  and  observations  of  Mollhausen  while  topographer 
and  draughtsman  to  the  expedition  sent  out  in  1853  by  the  U.  S. 
government  under  Lieutenant  Whipple  as  one  of  the  three  expedi 
tions  to  determine  the  most  desirable  route  for  a  railroad  from  the 
Mississippi  to  the  Pacific  ocean.  It  opens  with  the  author's  arrival 
at  Fort  Napoleon  at  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas,  where  Mdllhausen' s 
duties  as  a  member  of  the  expedition  were  to  begin.  He  relates 
about  camp-life  at  Fort  Smith,  the  filling  out  of  the  expedition  at 
that  place,  and  the  catching  and  training  of  mules.  Also  he  de 
scribes  flora  and  fauna,  and  natural  phenomena  as  well  as  the  vari 
ous  types  of  Indians  and  frontiersmen  the  party  meets  as  it  journeys 
westward  along  the  Canadian  river,  through  Indian  lands  to  the 
Pueblos  of  New  Mexico. 

The  author  deserves  special  commendation  for  the  mass  of  mate 
rial  he  presents  about  the  Mormons  and  their  history,  about  Saint 
Domingo  and  Albuquerque,  the  Zufii  and  other  town-building  In 
dians,  the  Cascas  Grandes  on  the  Rio  Gila  and  in  Chihuahua,  the 
Indian  towns  of  Isleta  and  Laguna,  and  the  traces  of  Aztec  semi- 
civilization. 

In  spite  of  the  wealth  of  scientific  matter  presented,  the  author 
has  nevertheless  created  a  very  readable  book  by  interspersing  it  all 
with  pleasant  narratives  of  experiences  which  actually  happened  to 
the  members  of  the  party  (who  are  portrayed  almost  as  interestingly 
as  the  characters  in  a  novel)  or  of  history  and  traditions  that  have 
come  to  the  notice  of  the  author  on  his  journey.  Thus,  in  the 
first  volume  he  describes  ball-playing  among  the  Choctaws,  Doctor 
Bigelow's  bear  hunt  on  the  Gila,  a  Fandago  in  the  steppe  and 
relates  the  story  of  the  kidnapped  Inez  Gonzales.  In  Volume  II 
he  tells  of  the  lives  of  the  three  oldest  backwoodsmen,  the  cele 
brated  guides  Leroux,  Fitzpatrick,  and  Kit  Carson.  He  speaks  of 
Carson's  relations  to  Colonel  Fremont,  and  dwells  at  length  upon 
the  latter's  varied  activities  in  the  opening-up  of  the  Far  West. 

The  second  half  of  Volume  II  describes  the  many  physical 
difficulties  -that  beset  the  members  of  the  party  as  they  journeyed 
across  the  sand  steppes  and  mountain  fastnesses,  and  their  final  ar- 


Balduin  Afollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  81 

rival  at  Pueblo  cle  los  Angelos,  where,  having  attained  its  purposes, 
the  party  disbanded. 

Of  considerable  biographical  importance  is  the  thread  of  narra 
tive  concerning  the  author's  previous  travels  in  western  America, 
woven  into  this  work.  This  narrative  is  placed  in  the  mouth  of 
the  "German  naturalist",  under  which  epithet  the  author  has  con 
cealed  himself.  As  one  who  had  travelled  in  those  parts  before, 
the  "Dutchman"  was  often  called  upon  to  relate  the  experiences  of 
his  first  journey.  Of  the  prairies  he  says:  "Many  a  hundred  mile 
have  I  travelled  in  them.  I  have  seen  the  plains  on  the  Nebraska 
under  all  aspects ;  when  the  spring  sun  was  drawing  out  millions 
of  buds  among  the  herbs  and  grass,  when  the  hot  summer  had  un 
folded  them  and  poured  out  all  sorts  of  gorgeous  colors  over  them, 
and  when  the  autumn  wind  rattled  their  ripe  capsules  and  bent 
down  their  withered  stalks;  and  I  have  seen  them,  too,  when  winter 
had  spread  its  white  shroud  over  the  burnt  wilderness,  and  the  snow 
storm  in  all  its  terrors  was  howling  over  it."  He  relates  at  length 
the  experiences  of  that  awful  winter  when,  by  force  of  circum 
stances,  he  was  left  alone  in  the  wilderness  by  Duke  Paul  of  Wiir- 
temberg,  and  finally  picked  up  by  a  band  of  Ottoe  Indians  and 
brought  to  a  fur-station  on  the  Missouri.3  He  tells  also  of  his  sub 
sequent  stay  among  the  Omahas  and  at  the  frontier  home  of  Mr. 
Sarpy,  the  chief  of  a  trading-post  of  the  St.  Louis  Fur  Company. 

In  the  narration  of  these  experiences,  in  the  story  of  Inez  Gon- 
zales,  and  in  the  pretty  idyl  of  "Love  in  a  Log  House",  Mollhausen 
already  evinces  some  of  the  qualities  which  make  him  later  the 
popular  German  novelist. 

Of  considerable  interest,  too,  are  the  beautiful  illustrations  which 
adorn  this  work.  They  are  color  reproductions  of  paintings  of 
western  life  in  America  done  by  Mollhausen  himself  and  betray  no 
mean  artistic  ability. 

While  Mollhausen  was  preparing  the  last  pages  of  his  manu 
script  for  the  press,  he  was  requested  by  the  U.  S.  government  to 
join  an  expedition  which  was  to  start  out  in  September,  1857,  for 
the  purpose  of  exploring  and  surveying  the  Colorado  river.  Before 
the  author's  return  in  the  fall  of  1858  the  work  had  appeared  and 
was  already  being  translated  into  Dutch  and  English.  The  English 
translation  was  done  by  Mrs.  Percy  Sinnett,  and  published  in  two 


3  For  details  see  Chapter  II. 


82  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

volumes  by  Longman,  Brown,  Green,  Longmans  and  Roberts,  Lon 
don  1858. 

The  first  German  edition  (a  Pracht-Ausgabe)  found  a  ready 
sale  among  libraries,  institutes,  and  aristocracy,  but  the  price  (18 
Thaler)  prohibited  scholars  and  readers  of  less  means  from  pur 
chasing  it.  The  publishers,  therefore,  issued  another  but  cheaper 
edition  to  which  was  added  a  lithographed  map  by  Henry  Lange, 
but  in  which  the  color  reproductions  were  lacking.  This  edition 
appeared  in  1860  under  the  title :  Wanderungen  durch  die  Prairien 
und  Wusten  des  westlichen  Nordamerika  vom  Mississippi  nach 
den  Kusten  der  Sudsee.  im  Gefolge  der  von  der  -Re'gierung  der  Ver- 
einigten  Staaten  unter  Lieutenant  Whipple  ausgesandten  Expedi 
tion.  Eingefiihrt  von  Alex.  v.  Humboldt. 

In  Uber  Land  und  Meer  for  1863  were  published  pages  from 
the  above  work,  illustrated  by  two  rather  extravagant  sketches 
by  the  artist  G.  Dore,  entitled  "Das  Ballspiel  der  Choctaws-in- 
dianer"  and  "Die  Prairieindianer  auf  der  Biiffeljagd". 

Sketches. — Upon  this  work  followed  his  first  literary  efforts,  a 
series  of  sketches  which  appeared  in  the  Gartenlaube.  The  first  ,of 
these,  Scenen  aus  dem  Volksleben  in  Neu-Orleans  (Gartenlaube, 
No.  26,  1860),  a  thrilling  bit  of  narrative,  has  for  its  subject  a  fight 
before  a  large  audience  between  a  huge  bull  named  General  Kossuth 
and  a  ferocious  California  bear  called  Jenny  Lind  (  !).  In  the 
second,  Die  Fata  Morgana  in  der  Wiiste  (Ibid.,  No.  30,  1860)  he  de 
scribes  in  a  poetic  manner,  the  mirage  of  the  western  deserts  which 
leads  many  an  unknowing  traveller  to  destruction.  Der  Prairie- 
brand  (Ibid.,  No.  36,  1860)  is  a  thrilling  sketch  with  a  subject 
which  was  much  favored  by  Strubberg  and  the  other  writers  of 
fiction  of  western  life.  Das  Canalboot  (Ibid.,  No.  43,  1860)  gives  an 
interesting  picture  of  life  on  the  canalboats  from  the  Great  Lakes 
to  the  Illinois  river,  then  the  only  means  of  transport  by  water  for 
passengers  on  their  way  from  the  Great  Lakes  down  the  Mississippi 
to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

Reisen  in  die  Felsengebirge  Nordamerikas  bis  sum  Hoch- 
Plateau  von  Neu-Mexico,  unternommen  als  Mitglied  der  im  Auf- 
trage  der  Regierung  der  Vereinigten  Staaten  ausgesandten  Colora 
do-Expedition.  Eingefiihrt  durch  zwei  Brief e  Alex.  v.  Humboldts 
in  Facsim.  2  Bde.  Leipzig.  1861. 

In  the  year  1857  Mollhausen  was  informed  from  Washington 
that  he  had  been  appointed  topographer  to  the  expedition  about 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  83 

to  be  sent  by  the  U.  S.  government  for  the  exploration  of  the  valley 
of  the  Colorado  and  to  find  the  extent  of  its  navigability.  Moll 
hausen  was  to  arrive  in  New  York  early  in  September  and  there 
to  receive  further  orders  from  the  commander  of  the  expedition, 
Lieutenant  Ives. 

It  is  the  experiences  of  this  expedition,  his  third  journey  to  Ameri 
ca,  that  have  furnished  Mollhausen  with  the  material  for  his  second 
work.  It  is  distinctly  a  book  of  travel  and  bears  the  scientific  charac 
ter  of  his  first  work.  The  author  relates  in  considerable  detail  his  ex 
periences  from  the  time  of  his  departure  from  New  York  for  San 
Francisco  in  September,  1857,  until  his  return  to  New  York  and  em 
barkation  for  Europe  on  September  i,  1858.  This  work  is  conse 
quently  of  great  biographical  value.4 

In  the  course  of  this  narrative  the  author  again  purposes  to 
give  his  German  readers  as  much  information  as  possible  concerning 
the  regions  traversed,  their  geological  structure,  their  flora  and 
fauna,  and  the  character  and  distinctions  of  the  Indian  tribes.  He 
does  not  rely  solely  upon  his  own  experiences  and  the  information 
obtained  from  the  members  of  the  expedition  but  also  consults 
U.  S.  government  reports  to  assure  scientific  accuracy.  With  all 
the  wealth  of  information  given,  Mollhausen  never  fails  in  his  en 
deavors  to  entertain  the  reader  by  introducing  interesting  bits  of 
narrative,  either  the  experiences  of  members  of  the  expedition,  or 
of  squatters  and  trappers  they  have  met  on  the  road.  Such  are 
the  stories  of  the  Texan  frontiersman  and  of  the  trapper  Gale,  both 
in  Vol.  I.  Not  uninteresting  are  the  portions  from  the  diary  of 
Leroux,  a  once  celebrated  guide  from  the  wildernesses  of  the  West. 
A  considerable  amount  of  early  Spanish  and  American  history,  and 
stories  of  the  wanderings  of  the  Indian  tribes  and  their  descent 
have  found  their  way  into  his  work.  Everywhere  are  signs  of  the 
author's  keen  appreciation  of  the  natural  beauties  of  western  Ameri 
ca,  later  more  evidently  manifested  in  his  novels. 

The  ethnographic  element  in  this  work  deserves  special  mention. 
Mollhausen  understood  the  art  of  presenting  in  a  plastic  manner 
the  motley  array  of  Indians,  half-breeds,  German  immigrants,  gold- 
seeking  desperados,  nomadic  trappers,  and  lonely  squatters  against 
the  wild  and  rugged  background  of  western  scenery. 


4  For  an  outline  of  this  journey  see  Chapter  II. 


84  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

In  this  work  Mollhausen,  as  one  of  the  members  of  the  expedi 
tion,  sometimes  entertains  his  companions  by  relating  to  them  his 
experiences  on  his  first  journey  to  America.  He  tells  of  his  life  as 
hunter  in  the  Kaskaskia  region  of  Illinois,  before  his  meeting  with 
Duke  Paul  of  Wiirtemburg;  also  of  his  experiences  with  the  Duke 
on  their  return  from  Fort  Laramie,  their  sufferings  in  a  snow-storm, 
and  their  frequent  difficulties  with  the  Indians.  These  experiences 
afford  valuable  biographical  material  and  may  be  considered  as 
complementary  to  those  portions  in  his  Tagebuch  einer  Reise,  etc., 
in  which  he  also  tells  of  some  of  his  experiences  during  his  first 
journey  to  America  under  the  title  Ersahlung  der  Abenteuer  am 
Nebraska. 

The  work  is  dedicated :  Seiner  Koniglichen  Hoheit  dem  Prinzen 
von  Preussen,  Friedrich  Wilhelm  Ludwig,  Regenten,  in  tiefster 
Ehrfurcht  der  Verfasser. 

Der  Halbindianer.  Ersahlung  aits  dem  westlichen  Nordamerika. 
4  Bde.  Jena.  1861. 

This  is  Mollhausen's  first  more  pretentions  literary  effort.  The 
time  of  the  story  is  in  the  fifties ;  the  scenes  of  action  are  in  Missouri, 
Louisiana  and  en  route  through  the  Sierras  to  California.  The  task 
which  the  author  has  set  for  himself  in  this  novel  is  the  restoration 
of  the  half-breed  Josef  to  his  rightful  place  as  son  and  heir  of  a 
wealthy  planter  in  Louisiana.  Josef  is  the  son  of  Mr.  Newfort  by 
a  Pawnee  woman  whom  he  had  met  when  a  young  man  on  an  ex 
cursion  up  the  Missouri.  Newfort  is  married  to  a  Cuban  woman 
who  has  borne  him  no  children.  He  is  desirous  of  finding  Josef 
and  claiming  him  as  a  son.  The  relatives  of  his  wife,  however,  are 
contriving  to  acquire  Newfort's  wealth  upon  his  death,  and  to  that 
end  put  forth  every  effort  to  prevent  a  meeting  between  the  half- 
breed  and  his  father.  This  situation  furnishes  the  conflict  in  the 
novel.  Josef  has  been  reared  under  the  ennobling  influence  of 
MacNeal,  a  missionary  to  the  Indians  along  the  upper  Missouri. 
The  scene  now  shifts  to  St.  Louis  where  we  find  Josef  and  his  friend 
the  old  trapper  Lefevre5  in  the  employ  of  the  well  known  St.  Louis 
Fur  Company.  In  the  chapter  Die  Schicksale  einer  Auswanderer 
Familie  we  learn  to  know  the  German  immigrant  Herr  Andree,  his 
son  Robert,  and  his  daughter  Franziska,  who  were  obliged  to  flee 


6  A  character  which  may  reflect  the  trapper  Leroux  whom  Mollhausen 
had  learned  to  know  on  the  expedition  under  Leiut.  Whipple  in  1853-54. 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  85 

from  Mannheim  for  having  harbored  a  young  revolutionist  of  1848 
on  his  flight  to  America.  In  St.  Louis  Andree  has  fallen  a  victim 
to  the  land-shark  Buschmark.  The  Andree  family  then  decides  to 
try  its  fortunes  beyond  the  Rockies  and  is  offered  the  assistance 
of  the  half-breed  Joe  and  the  trapper  Lefevre.  By  accompanying 
the  Andrees  Joe  is  escaping  the  Spanish  relatives  of  Mrs.  Newfort 
who  have  plotted  against  his  life.  We  follow  the  party  along  the 
much  travelled  emigrant  road  to  California.  Josef  first  visits  his 
original  home  near  Council  Bluffs,  where  he  is  joined  by  Wabash 
Ginga  who  is  also  to  accompany  the  party.  Their  way  leads 
through  the  grounds  of  the  Oglala,  Sioux,  and  Blackfoot  Indians. 
Robert  Andree  had  gone  earlier  and  found  employment  at  the 
frontier  smithy  of  Bigelow,  on  the  emigrant  road  near  the  town  of 
Kansas.  Upon  the  arrival  of  the  party,  Robert,  as  well  as  Sidney 
Bigelow,  the  son  of  the  blacksmith,  join.  This  journey  of  the  Ger 
man  family  to  the  Far  West  forms  a  significant  part  of  the  work. 

After  following  the  half-breed  Josef,  a  modern  Odysseus,  through 
four  volumes  of  most  varied  adventures  and  many  vicissitudes,  he 
at  last  meets  his  father,  Newfort,  and  a  recognition  scene  follows. 
Josef,  after  a  pretty  romance  with  the  German  girl  Franziska,  be 
comes  her  husband.  He  and  his  bride  accompany  Newfort  to  the 
South  where  they  are  to  reside.  Old  Lefevre,  the  devoted  friend 
of  Josef,  Robert  Andree  and  Sidney  Bigelow  accompany  them  to 
San  Francisco  where  they  are  to  embark  for  New  Orleans.  Le 
fevre  and  Wabash  intend  to  return  to  the  upper  Missouri.  Robert 
and  Sidney  remain  in  California  to  try  their  fortunes  there. 

Though  the  plot  in  Mollhausen's  first  novel  reveals  but  little 
originality,  the  same  is  nevertheless  unravelled  with  considerable 
success.  Also  he  has  shown  himself  skilled  in  the  portrayal  of  the 
various  types  of  characters  developed  on  our  western  borders.  The 
old  trapper  Lefevre  (a  cousin  to  Cooper's  Natty  Bumpo  and  Seals- 
field's  Nathan),  the  half-breed  Josef,  the  German  immigrants,  the 
scoundrel  Harrison  in  preacher's  garb,  "Die  Zwillinge,"  two  in 
separable  gamblers,  and  the  frontiersman  Bigelow,  are  drawn  with  a 
certain  hand  and  form  a  splendid  portrait  gallery. 

But  more  important  than  story  and  character  portrayal  for  the 
reader  of  today  is  the  grand  panorama  of  western  life  in  its  vari 
ous  phases  which  the  novel  unfolds  in  its  course.  The  reader 
accompanies  the  characters  to  negro  plantations  in  the  South,  across 
the  prairies  to  the  Mormons  in  Salt  Lake  City,  through  the  dan- 


86  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

gerous  passes  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  to  the  gold  mines  in  Cali 
fornia.  With  the  full  "epische  Breite"  of  an  ancient  romancier  we 
learn  of  the  lives  of  squatters,  trappers,  fur-traders,  Indians,  immi 
grants,  horse  thieves,  and  gamblers.  Though  of  poetic  temperament 
and  a  romanticist  in  the  manipulation  of  his  plot,  Mollhausen  never 
hesitates  to  introduce  realistic  scenes.  Such  are  the  drastic  raiding 
of  a  house  of  ill-fame  in  St.  Louis,  the  lively  scene  in  a  gambling 
den  in  the  young  city  of  Sacramento,  and  that  of  the  court  room 
among  the  gold  miners  of  California  who  have  taken  the  law  into 
their  own  hands.6  It  is  also  interesting  to  note  how  Mollhausen 
endeavors  to  add  reality  through  various  footnotes.  Of  the  Indian 
Petalescharo  he  says:  "Petalescharo's  Portrat  befindet  sich  in 
Washington  in  dem  Museum".  He  also  frequently  refers  to  his 
previous  works  on  travels  in  footnotes.  In  the  rendering  of  Indian 
speech  into  German  the  author  has  followed  an  established  method, 
namely,  the  abundant  use  of  infinitives,  as  for  example :  "Ich 
finden  das  Herz  des  Halfbreeds" ;  "Spiirhunde  gehen  weit  anderen 
Weg,  niemand  kommen  dies  Wigwam" ;  "ich  nicht  liigen" ;  "ich  aber 
hungrig,  viel  hungrig,  kommen  weiten  Weg,  sehen  weisse  Squaw 
begraben".  Some  of  the  characters  in  this  novel,  if  we  may  believe 
the  author,  have  been  drawn  directly  from  life.  In  the  last  chapter 
of  this  work,  in  which  the  author  himself  enters,  we  read :  "Jetzt, 
wo  ich  mit  schnellen  Schritten  dem  Schluss  meiner  Erzahlung 
nahere  und  die  ganze  Arbeit  fast  vollendet  vor  mir  sehe,  empfmde 
ich  ein  gewisses  Bedauern  iiber  die  Trennung  von  Leuten,  in  deren 
geistigen  Umgang  ich  mich  so  lange  bewegte.  Das  Bedauern  ist 
lebhafter  und  gerechtfertiger,  weil  ich  mit  vielen  der  in  dem  "Halb- 
indianer"  vorkommenden  Personen,  wie  auch  mit  dem  Halfbreed 
Josef  selbst  verkehrte,  ja,  manche  derselben  bis  heute  noch  nicht 
aus  den  Augen  verloren  habe." 

Mollhausen  has  neglected  no  opportunity  to  display  his  extensive 
knowledge  of  life  in  the  Far  West  which  he  had  obtained  upon  his 
previous  journeys.  The  observing  eye  of  the  naturalist  is  noticeable 


8  Among  the  motley  crowd  sworn  is  a  German  baron,  a  type  of  the 
more  or  less  "verbummelter"  German  nobleman  in  America:  "Ferner  ist  hier 
Baron  Kreuzer !  Fruher  deutscher  Student,  dann  Offizier,  dann  badischer 
Freischarler,  dann  Literat,  dann  Schenkwirt  in  New  York,  dann  Zeitungen- 
kolporteur  in  Cincinnati,  dann  Farmer  in  Minnesota,  dann  Methodistenpredi- 
ger  in  Illinois  und  zuletzt  Viehtreiber  in  Missouri !  Ein  Mann  von  so 
vielen  Erfahrungen  und  so  vielseitiger  Erziehung  diirfte  sich  wohl  zum 
Geschworenen  eignen !" 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  87 

in  his  accurate  discriptions  of  geography,  and  of  flora  and  fauna. 
The  novel  itself  was  to  supplement,  so  to  speak,  the  author's  previ 
ous  works  on  travel  as  he  himself  says  in  his  introduction  to  the 
Halbindianer.  Mollhausen's  program,  as  set  forth  in  that  introduc 
tion,  applies  to  so  many  of  his  other  works  that  it  deserves  to 
be  quoted.  He  writes  in  part :  "Indem  ich  den  Halbindianer  oder 
Halfbreed  schrieb,  beabsichtigte  ich  gewissermassen  eine  Illustration 
zu  meinen  friiher  erschienenen  Reisewerken  zu  geben. 

"Wahrend  eines  langjahrigen  Aufenthalts  an  den  Grenzen  der 
Civilisation  und  in  abgelegenen  Wildnissen  hauft  sich  namlich  der 
Stoff  so  seh-r,  dass  man  ihn  fiiglich  nicht  in  den  Reisewerken  ver- 
wenden  kann,  ohne  deren  Charakter  wesentlich  zu  verandern,  ja,  zu 
beeintrachtigen. 

"Beim  Riickblick  aber  auf  die  Zeiten  des  unsteten,  vielbewegten 
Wanderlebens  tauschen  in  der  Erinnerung  Scenen  und  Begeben- 
heiten  auf,  die  man  friiher  iibersah,  oder  fur  nicht  wichtig  hielt. 
Jeder  Tag  wird  gleichsam  immer  wieder  von  neuem  erlebt,  und 
scheint  es  fast,  als  ob  das  in  der  Vergangenheit  suchende  geistige 
Auge  mitunter  scharfer  sieht  und  auffasst,  wie  einst  das  Korperliche 
an  Ort  und  Stelle. 

"Dergleichen  auftauchende  Bilder  in  ein  Ganzes  zusammen- 
zufiigen,  war  in  den  nachfolgenden  Blattern  meine  Aufgabe,  und 
wahlte  ich  zu  diesem  Zweck  eine  Geschichte,  in  welcher  namentlich 
die  Vorurteile  der  Amerikaner  gegen  jede  dunkler  gefarbte  Haut 
und  die  daraus  entspringenden  Folgen  dargelegt  werden. 

"Mit  Freuden  mischte  ich  mich  im  Laufe  der  Erzahlung  in  das 
Volksleben;  ich  fand  reichen  Genuss  in  der  Schildenmg  der  iip- 
pigen,  wie  der  stiefmiitterlich  behandelten  Natur,  der  sie  belebenden 
Geschopfe  und  deren  wunderbaren  Treibens ;  mit  eigener  Span- 
nung  folgte  ich  den  wilden  Eingeborenen  auf  dem  blutigen  Kriegs- 
pfade  bis  in  die  fast  undurchdringlichen  Wiisten,  und  suchte  mit 
Vorbedacht  die  Handlungen  jedesmal  mit  den  Sitten  der  verschie- 
denen  Xationen  und  der  Alles  beeinflussenden  Naturumgebung  in 
Einklang  zu  bringen." 

Der  Fluchtling.  Erzahlung  aus  Neu-Mexico  und  dem  angren- 
senden  Indianergebiet;  im  Anschluss  an  den  "Halbindianer".  4  Bde. 
Jena.  1861. 

In  this  novel  Mollhausen  has  again  drawn  upon  the  material 
with  which  he  became  acquainted  in  western  America.  It  is  a 
sequel  to  Der  Halbindianer,  and,  like  that  novel,  is  to  serve  as  an 


88  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

illustration  to  his  works  on  travel.  The  author  endeavored,  through 
conscientious  and  scrupulously  truthful  description,  to  furnish  the 
reader  more  than  an  entertaining  novel.  The  story,  which  is  simple 
enough  in  outline,  was  to  serve  only  as  a  means  wherewith  to  pre 
sent  in  a  more  effective  manner,  the  wealth  of  geographic  and 
ethnographic  material  which  lay  at  the  disposal  of  the  writer.  The 
interesting  culture  of  the  civilized  Indians  of  New  Mexico  forms  a 
considerable  part  of  the  background  of  this  work.  In  the  course  of 
this  narrative  the  author  has  also  taken  occasion  to  paint  in  a  vivid 
fashion  the  degrading  and  demoralizing  effects  of  slavery,7 

The  action  begins  on  a  rancho  located  somewhere  between  the 
San  Bernardino  mountain  chain  and  the  Pacific  coast.  Robert 
Andree,  the  son  of  a  German  immigrant,  and  Sidney  Bigelow,  both 
of  whom  we  have  learned  to  know  in  Mollhausen's  first  novel  Der 
Halbindianer,  have  located  here,  after  having  worked  in  the  gold 
mines  of  California  for  two  years.  Robert  is  now  the  overseer  of 
the  rancho  and  is  known  as  the  Majordomo.  At  the  beginning  of 
the  novel  the  two  are  about  to  set  out  on  a  long  journey  across  the 
Rocky  Mountains.  There  they  are  to  gather  twenty  thousand  sheep 
and  return  across  the  mountains  with  them  in  the  following  spring. 
The  wanderings  of  Robert  and  Sidney  are  recorded  at  length  and 
form  a  large  part  of  the  narrative.  The  story  itself  centers  about  the 
young  German  fugitive  Hohendorf,  whom  we  first  learn  to  know 
under  the  assumed  name  of  Schmidt.  He  is  serving  as  a  soldier  in 
a  United  States  regiment  stationed  near  the  Mexican  town  of  Anton 
Chico,  in  the  fall  of  1857.  Schmidt,  being  a  German,  suffers  very  un 
kind  treatment  at  the  hands  of  his  fellows  and  finally  deserts.  We 
follow  him  on  his  flight  and  to  his  concealment  in  the  Mexican  ruins 
of  Grand  Quivira.  Here  Mollhausen  tells  at  some  length  the  story  of 
the  hidden  treasures,  which  is  based  partly  on  facts  and  rests  on  a 
document  found  by  the  United  States  Major,  I.  H.  Carleton. 


7  Concerning  the  attitude  of  certain  Germans  in  America  toward  slavery 
he  vehemently  writes:  "Leider  gibt  es  vereinzelte  amerikanisierte  Deutsche, 
die,  ihr  Herkommen  und  ihre  tapfer  kampfenden  und  gesinnungstiichtigen 
Landsleute  verleugnend  und  verleumdend,  sich  mit  fantischer  Wildheit  zu 
Verteidigern  der  Sklaverei  aufwerfen  und  dabei  die  weniger  lobenswerten 
Gewohnheiten  der  wirklichen  Amerikaner  zur  Schau  tragen,  ohne  sich  zu- 
gleich  den  hoheren  Grad  ihrer  Gesittung  angeeignet  zu  haben.  Die  von  mir 
in  nachfolgenden  Blattern  gelegentlich  ausgesprochenen  Urteile  entspringen 
der  festen  Uberzeugung,  dass  es  die  heiligste  Pflicht  jedes  rechtlich  denkenden 

Menschen ist,  mit  aller  ihm  zu  Gebote  stehenden  Kraft  gegen  die 

fluchwurdigsten  aller  weltlichen  Einrichtungen  zu  eifern  und  zu  streiten," 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  89 

Hohendorf  is  none  other  than  the  German  student  mentioned  in 
Der  Halbindianer,  who,  having  taken  part  in  the  revolution  of  1848, 
was  obliged  to  flee  to  America,  and  who  had  found  refuge  for  a 
time  in  the  home  of  the  Andree  family  in  Mannheim,  before  that 
family's  emigration  to  America.8 

In  the  ruins  above  mentioned  Hohendorf  meets  a  Mexican  by 
the  name  of  Manuel,  a  Zufii  Indian  called  Pasqual,  and  an  idiotic 
albino  woman,  also  a  Zufii,  who  are  searching  here  for  the  tradi 
tional  lost  treasure.  He  accompanies  them  and  enjoys  their  protec 
tion  until  he  happens  upon  Sidney  and  Robert.  Hohendorf  is  pur 
sued  by  dragoons,  but  escapes  them  with  the  assistance  of  a  Mexican 
lad  who  is  acquainted  with  the  secret  passages  of  the  ancient  mines. 
The  boy  lives  in  the  mines  with  the  miserly  Mexican  Manuel.  This 
Mexican  lad  (who  later  proves  to  be  a  girl !)  had  been  abducted  by 
the  Indians  when  still  a  child,  and  afterwards  given  over  to  Manuel 
who  reared  the  child  after  the  fashion  of  a  boy.  He  is  one  of  those 
romantic  figures  which  Mollhausen  was  occasionally  pleased  to  place 
in  the  midst  of  realistic  surroundings. 

Sidney  and  Robert,  accompanied  by  Hohendorf,  return  to  Cali 
fornia,  not  without  bloody  encounters  with  the  Indians  on  the  way. 
Upon  arriving  in  California  Hohendorf  receives  news  from  Ger 
many  that  his  sovereign  has  graciously  pardoned  the  young  revo 
lutionist,  and  that  he  is  free  to  return.  Robert  and  Sidney  accom 
pany  him  to  the  Colorado  and  thence  he  returns  to  Germany. 
Hohendorf  is  the  fugitive  for  whom  the  novel  is  named. 

In  the  shifting  scenes  of  this  work  we  witness  life  on  the  Spanish 
ranches  in  southern  California,  in  a  United  States  military  camp, 
on  negro  plantations,  and  among  the  nomadic  tribes  of  the  West. 
This  novel  is  rich  in  ethnographical  material.  The  author  has 
shown  himself  especially  skillful  in  depicting  the  passing  culture  of 
the  once  mighty  Aztecs  as  reflected  in  their  degenerate  descendants 
in  New  Mexico.  He  has,  in  the  course  of  his  narrative,  introduced  a 


8 The  following  reasons  are  given  for  Hohendorf 's  flight:  "Ich  hatte 
mich  mit  jugendlichem  Leichtsinn  an  politischen  Umtrieben  beteiligt  und 
jenen  Agitatoren  angeschlossen,  die  in  ihrem  blinden  Wahnsinn  glaubten, 
hundertjahrige  Institutionen  durch  ihre  iiberspannten  Ideen  iiber  den  Haufen 
sturzen  zu  konnen.  Phantast  wie  ich  war,  und  wie  man  auf  Universitaten 
zu  leicht  wird,  gehorte  nicht  viel  Uberredung  dazu,  mich  in  einen  Barri- 
kadenkampfer  umzuwandeln,  und  ich  wurde  das  Opfer  meines  eigenen  Leicht- 
sinns  und  des  Widerspruchsgeistes,  den  ich  meinem  wohlmeinenden  Vater 
gegeniiber  zeigte." 


90  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

considerable  amount  of  Spanish-American  history,  without  detract 
ing  to  a  great  degree  from  its  forward  action. 

In  spite  of  the  many  more  romantic  aspects  of  western  life 
which  may  be  found  in  this  novel,  the  work  on  the  whole  must 
impress  the  reader  with  its  realism.  Mollhausen  himself  seSns  to 
have  had  the  desire  that  it  should  be  accepted  as  a  novel  faithfully 
depicting  life  as  it  was  in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  in 
western  America,  for  he  closes  the  introduction  with  these  words : 
"Ich  schildere,  was  ich  gesehen  und  beobachtet  habe ;  und  wenn  ich 
auch  das,  was  ich  erzahle,  nicht  immer  selbst  erlebte,  erfahren  habe 
ich  es  gewiss ;  gleichviel,  ob  von  schwellenden  Lippen,  versunken 
im  Anschauen  tropischer  liebegliihender  Augen,  oder  von  alten 
Jagdgefahrten,  vor  dem  heimlichen  Lagerfeuer  in  unwirtlicher 
Wildniss." 

Der  Majordomo.  Roman  aus  dem  siidlichen  Kalifornien  und 
Neu-Mexiko  im  Anschluss  an  den  "Halbindianer"  und  "Fliichtling." 
4  Bde.  Jena.  1863. 

This  work  is  a  sequel  to  Der  Halbindianer  and  Der  Fliichtling, 
the  three  forming,  in  a  sense,  a  trilogy  on  western  life  in  America 
half  a  century  ago.  It  is  divided  into  two  parts.  In  the  first,  called 
"Neu-Mexiko  oder  siebzehn  Jahre  friiher,"  the  action  takes  place 
in  1841.  It  is  the  author's  purpose  in  this  part  to  give  the  exposi 
tion  of  the  action  which  follows  in  the  second.  It  sets  forth  the 
earlier  lives  of  some  of  the  characters.  A  Spanish  frontier  family, 
named  Estevan,  who  is  in  the  possession  of  valuable  old  Spanish 
documents,  is  robbed  by  several  Mexicans  assisted  by  Indians.  The 
parents  are  killed  and  the  two  children  dragged  awray.  The  little 
daughter  is  taken  by  the  Mexican  Manuel  who  rears  her  after  the 
manner  of  a  boy.  It  is  she  whom  we  learned  to  know  as  the  lad 
Fernando  in  Der  Fliichtling.  The  son  is  kept  by  the  Indians  and 
known  later  as  "dark  Juan." 

Part  Second,  entitled  "Kalifornien,  oder  der  Majordomo"  opens 
up  in  Pueblo  de  los  Angelos,  one  of  the  most  important  of  the  old 
California  colonies  on  the  seacoast.  The  time  of  action  is  the  autumn 
of  1858.  We  are  again  on  a  rancho  with  the  German,  Robert  Andree 
and  his  friend,  Sidney  Bigelow,  both  of  whom  have  been  prominent 
characters  in  the  two  preceding  novels.  The  action  now  turns 
about  Robert  who  is  known  as  the  Majordomo.  Fernando,  who  is 
now  grown  up,  is  employed  on  the  rancho.  His  affection  and  ten 
derness  toward  Robert  are  only  later  understood  when  it  is  dis- 


Balduin  Afollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  91 

covered  that  he  is  a  maiden.  This  unique  and  romantic  character 
is  enveloped  in  mystery  to  the  close  of  the  work  and  stands  out  in 
strong  contour  against  the  realistic  setting. 

Here  we  meet  again  that  infamous  pair  of  vagabonds,  Toby  and 
Finney,  "Die  Zvvillinge"  who  figure  so  conspicuously  in  Der  Halb- 
indianer.  The  two,  together  with  a  chinaman,  an  adventuress,  and 
a  monkey,  are  touring  the  country  as  jugglers  and  dancers.  The 
twins  have  called  the  Indians  to  their  assistance  in  order  to  rob 
Robert  and  Sidney  of  the  money  obtained  from  the  sale  of  the 
twenty  thousand  sheep  of  which  we  read  in  the  previous  novel. 
Robert  and  Sidney  are  rescued  from  them  by  the  excellent  trapper 
Gale  and  his  sons  who  have  settled  in  the  Tulare  Valley. 

On  the  rancho  are  the  sisters  Maria  and  Inez.  Romances  have 
developed  between  Maria  and  Sidney,  and  Inez  and  Robert.  Toby 
and  Finney  are  still  hostile  toward  Robert  and  Sidney,  and  are  plot 
ting  to  abduct  Inez.  However,  the  tender  Fernando  becomes  their 
victim  instead.  They  abduct  the  latter  from  the  rancho  with  the 
thought  that  they  had  taken  Inez,  due  to  the  fact  that  the  maiden 
Fernando  had  laid  aside  her  masculine  attire  in  the  privacy  of  her 
room. 

At  the  close  of  the  novel  the  criminals  receive  their  due  reward. 
Inez  and  Robert  are  united,  as  also  Maria  and  Sidney.  We  are  then 
once  more  transported  to  the  South  where  "Der  Halbindianer" 
and  his  German  wife  have  settled,  and  there  meet  again  with  the 
much  loved  trapper  Lefevre  and  his  Indian  companion  Wabash. 
Thus  the  author  hastily  reviews  at  the  conclusion  of  this  work  the 
interrelations  of  his  first  three  novels. 

Der  Majordomo  is  in  point  of  story  hardly  as  well  constructed 
as  the  two  previous  novels.  It  contains,  however,  many  splendidly 
created  characters.  Such  an  one  is  the  savage  El  Muerte  who  was 
responsible  for  the  murder  of  the  Estevan  family.  El  Muerte  with 
his  troubled  conscience  furnishes  no  mean  companion  to  Sealsfield's 
wonderful  creation  of  a  conscience-stricken  criminal,  namely  Bob 
in  Das  Cajutenbuch.  Another  splendid  character  is  the  trapper  Gale, 
a  backwoodsman  who  lives  in  the  sequestered  Tulare  valley  with 
his  Indian  wife  and  strong  half-breed  sons  and  daughter.  He  is 
endowed  with  a  wonderful  sense  of  honesty  and  justice,  although 
he  canot  tell  a  book  from  a  hoe-cake. 

Mollhausen  has  not  failed  to  display  in  this  novel  his  wonderful 
talent  for  describing  the  majestic  beauty  of  the  scenery  of  western 


92  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

America.  Of  the  cultural  elements  he  has  introduced  for  the  pur 
pose  of  creating  atmosphere  must  be  mentioned  life  on  the 
ranches,  in  the  new  settlement  of  the  Mormons  in  the  San  Bernar 
dino  valley,  and  during  the  Mormon  war  with  the  United  States, 
among  the  California  Indians,  among  the  motley  crowds  of  miners 
and  chinamen,  in  the  San  Fernando  mission,  among  the  lonely  trap 
pers  of  the  mountains,  and  on  the  negro  plantations  of  the  South. 
Palmblatter  und  Schneeflocken.  Erzahlungen  aus  dem  fernen 
Westen.  2  Bde.  Leipzig.  1863. 

However  popular  Mollhausen's  Majordomo  may  have  been 
among  the  general  reading  public,  there  were  critics  who  thought 
this  novel  ought  to  be  classified  under  the  rubric  of  geography 
or  ethnology  rather  than  fiction.  Others  who  admired  his  wonderful 
descriptions  of  natural  scenery  and  its  splendid  character  portrayal, 
nevertheless  felt  it  had  lost  in  literary  form  by  being  a  sequel  to 
the  two  previous  novels.  They  thought  four  volumes  quite  long 
enough  to  develop  and  round  out  completely  a  plot  without  taking 
its  characters  over  into  another  novel.9 

That  Mollhausen  also  possessed  the  ability  to  create  works  which 
would  appeal  through  perfection  of  form  and  artistic  entity  was 
shown  in  the  collection  of  tales  which  appeared  under  the  title  of 
Palmblatter  und  Schneeflocken.  In  these  his  poetic  talent  is  for  the 
first  time  unhampered  by  long,  complicated  plots.  Volume  I  consists 
of  Die  Muschelhdndlerin;  Der  Steppenbrand;  Der  Postldufer;  Das 
Canalboot;  Scenen  aus  dem  Volksleben;  and  Der  Schneesturm. 
Of  these  the  sketches  Der  Steppenbrand,  Das  Canalboot,  and  Scenen 
aus  dem  Volksleben  had  previously  appeared  in  Die  Gartenlaube. 

Die  Muschelhandlerin  is  a  novelette  in  which  the  romantic  and 
the  realistic  charmingly  commingle.  Ethnographic  observations  and 
realistic  descriptions  of  scenery  are  here  subordinated  to  the  roman- 


9  Vber  Land  und  Meer.  1864.  p.  439 :  "Was  Erfindung,  Okonomie, 
u.  s.  w.  der  gewahlten  Kunstform  anbetrifft,  ist  von  untergeordnetem  Werth, 
wahrend  der  Schwerpunkt  der  uns  dargebotenen  vier  Bande  in  der  Schilde- 
rung  namentlich  von  dem  siidlichen  Kalifornien  und  Neu-Mexiko  liegt,  die 
besonders  in  ethnographischer  Beziehung  viel  Interessantes  darbietet.  Das 
Buch  gehort  wesentlich  unter  die  Rubrik :  'Lander-  und  Volkerkunde'." 

Magasin  fur  die  Literatur  des  Anslandes.  n.  Sept.,  1864:  "Mollhausen 
liebt  es,  zu  seinen  Romanen  Fortsetzungen  zu  geben  auf  Kosten  der  kiinstler- 

ischen  Einheit  des  einzelnen  Werkes Wir  glauben,  dass  der 

Raum  von  vier  Banden  hinreichend  sein  diirfte,  um  einen  in  sich  vollkom- 
men  abgerundeten  Roman  zu  umfassen,  und  lieben  durchaus  nicht  die  mach- 
tigen  Trilogien  und  Tetralogien  in  dieser  Gattung,  die  wohl  selten  aus  dem 
kiinstlerischen  Gewissen  hervorgegangen  sind " 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  93 

tic  Spanish-American  atmosphere.  The  scene  of  action  is  Panama. 
The  pretty  vendor  of  sea-shells.  Teresa,  a  simple  child  of  the  tropics, 
her  rustic  lover  Jacobo,  and  Sennor  Gualterio,  the  wealthy  owner 
of  the  cottage  in  which  Teresa  dwells,  are  the  principals  in  this 
story.  Gualterio  takes  advantage  of  his  fair  tenant's  debts  to  him 
by  making  unfair  proposals  to  her.  Jacobo  defends  her.  He  is 
wrongly  imprisoned,  but  later  escapes  through  the  assistance  of 
Teresa.  The  fine  descriptions  of  the  tropical  ocean  and  the  vivid 
narrative  of  the  escape  from  a  shark  in  the  Bay  of  Acapulco  already 
point  to  the  author's  later  successes  as  a  writer  of  sea-tales. 

Der  Postldufer  von  Wisconsin  is  a  delightful  tale  in  which  M611- 
hausen*  in  describing  the  severity  of  a  winter  in  western  America, 
has  drawn  upon  his  own  adventures.  The  incident  about  which 
the  story  centers  is  that  of  the  breaking  up  of  the  ice  on  the  Great 
Lakes  with  the  advent  of  spring.  The  action  takes  place  in  Wis 
consin  in  the  forties.  The  Warners  are  frontier  farmers  who  have 
settled  near  the  village  of  Manitouwauk  at  a  time  when  Pota- 
watomi  and  Chippevva  Indians  were  still  occasionally  to  be  met  in  the 
regions  once  their  own.  Ben  White,  the  only  son  of  a  well-to-do 
farmer  who  had  migrated  to  the  banks  of  Lake  \Vinnebago  from  the 
state  of  Pennsylvania,  was  in  love  with  Warner's  daughter.  As 
postcarrier  it  is  Ben's  business  to  further  the  mail  from  one  distant 
settlement  to  another  along  the  shore  of  Lake  Michigan.  Ben,  in 
company  with  a  Chippewa  Indian,  employs  the  frozen  lake  as  a 
more  rapid  means  of  intercourse  for  his  sled  and  dogs.  While  on 
the  ice,  miles  from  the  shore,  the  ice  breaks  up  with  roaring  thunder 
and  makes  it  impossible  for  them  to  return  to  the  shore.  With 
great  difficulty  they  reach  an  island  where  the  thawing  ice  soon 
leaves  them  entirely  without  intercourse  with  the  mainland.  They 
owe  their  rescue  to  the  intuition  of  a  faithful  Chippewa  squaw. 

Der  Schneesturm  is  a  picture  of  the  author's  memorable  march 
through  the  snow  with  the  band  of  Ottoe  Indians  who  picked  him 
up  and  took  him  with  them  to  their  settlements  on  the  shores  of  the 
Missouri. 

Volume  II  of  Palmbldtter  und  Schnee  floe  ken  consists  of  Die 
Tochter  des  Hauptlings;  Die  Fata  Morgana  in  der  Wuste;  Bin 
Duell  in  Kalifornien;  and  Die  Gr'dber  in  der  Steppe.  Of  these  Die 
Fata  Morgana  in  der  IViiste  had  previously  appeared  in  Die  Gar- 
tenlaube. 


94  Baldwin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

The  action  of  Die  Tochter  des  H'duptlings  takes  place  about  a 
day's  journey  from  the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  along  Lake 
Kadikameg.  It  is  the  romance  of  Nagur-Sah  (Zwei  Sonnen),  the 
daughter  of  the  chief  of  the  Chippewas  and  Jean  Baptista,  a  Cana 
dian  trapper,  a  wild  tale  of  love,  opposition,  revenge  and  acquisition. 

Ein  Duell  in  Kalifornien  presents  an  episode  of  the  gold  days  in 
California  which  seems  to  have  come  to  the  notice  of  Mollhausen 
on  his  first  visit  to  San  Francisco.  He  apparently  used  the  material 
with  considerable  license. 

Die  Grdber  in  der  Steppe  is  a  western  emigration  elegy.  It  first 
reveals  a  pleasant  picture  of  farm  life  near  St.  Charles  on  the  Mis 
souri.  Here  we  witness  a  genuine  American  cornhusking  party  with 
the  old  custom  that  he  who  finds  a  red  ear  may  kiss  his  feminine 
neighbor.  A  young  German  immigrant  has  arrived  at  the  farm. 
His  manner  and  integrity  please  the  farmer  and  he  is  invited  to 
accompany  the  family  on  their  migration  to  the  Far  West.  The 
daughter  of  the  farmer  and  the  German  fall  in  love  with  each  other, 
the  American  suitor  in  revenge  follows  the  party  on  its  way  to  Cali 
fornia,  shoots  the  lovers  and  himself,  and  the  three  find  lonely 
graves  on  the  silent  prairie. 

Das  Mormonenmddchen.  Einc  Erzdhlung  aus  der  Zeit  des 
Kriegssuges  der  Vereinigten  Staaten  gegen  die  "Heiligen  der  letzten 
Tage"  im  Jahre  1857-1858.  (Appeared  as  volumes  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9 
in  the  Deutsche  Romanbibliothek.  Jena.  1864.) 

This  has  always  been  one  of  Mb'llhausen's  most  popular  novels, 
due  in  part  to  the  interesting  story,  but  probably  more  to  the  great 
mass  of  material  which  the  novel  presented  about  a  sect  which  had 
drawn  upon  itself  the  attention  of  Europe10  as  well  as  America. 
In  his  introduction  the  author  gives  a  short  history  of  the  rise  and 
growth  of  Mormonism,  for  the  material  of  which  he  was  indebted 
to  the  Official  Reports  (1852)  of  Howard  Stansbury,  to  the  work 
The  Mormons  or  the  Latter-day  Saints  in  the  Valley  of  the  Great 
Salt  Lake  by  Captain  J.  W.  Gunnison  (later  slain  by  the  Utah  In 
dians),  and  his  own  personal  experiences  with  the  Mormons  on  the 
Colorado  expedition  under  Lieutenant  Ives.  Concerning  the  purpose 


10  In  Germany  the  Magazin  fur  die  Literatur  des  Auslandes  had  pub 
lished  an  article  on  the  Mormons  (Dec.  19,  1868)  ;  also  the  following  works 
of  Hepworth  Dixon,  treating  of  Mormonism,  had  appeared  in  German :  See- 
lenbrdute  (iibersetzt  von  Julius  Frese,  Berlin  1868)  and  Neu-Amerika  (nach 
der  7.  Aufl.  aus  dem  Englischen  von  Richard  Oberlander,  Jena,  1868). 


Balduin  Alollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  95 

of  the  work,  he  writes :  "Mich  leitete  der  Wunsch,  das  unterhaltende 

Element  mit  dem  belehrenden  zu  verbinden Wenn 

es  auch  nicht  Schuld  der  Mormonen  ist,  die  nach  dem  Ausbruch 
der  Feindseligkeiten  die  Expedition,  zu  der  ich  zahlte,  im  Tale  des 
Colorado  zu  vernichten  gedachten,  dass  ich  noch  unter  den  Leben- 
den  weile,  so  bin  ich  bei  nachfolgenden  Schilderungen  doch  keines- 
wegs  von  Hass  gegen  sie  beseelt  gewesen.  Frei  von  Vorurteilen 
gegen  Sekten  und  Stande,  habe  ich  meine  Personen  fast  durch- 
gehends  der  Wirklichkeit  entnommen,  was  mir  nur  so  leichter  wurde, 
weil  ich  die  meisten  derselben  personlich  kannte." 

Das  Aformonenmadchen  presents  in  a  most  atttractive  manner 
a  remarkable  chapter  in  the  development  of  the  West.  The  most 
prominent  of  the  many  diverse  characters  engaged  in  the  action  of 
this  novel  are  the  Swedish  emigrants  who  have  come  to  America 
as  a  result  of  the  extensive  proselyting  done  by  the  Mormons  in 
Sweden.  The  novel  tells  us  of  many  illegitimate  means  employed 
by  the  Mormons  in  getting  converts.  The  story  centers  about 
Herta  Jansen  and  her  sister  Editha,  two  Swedish  girls.  The  latter 
had  married  Holmsten,  a  convert  to  Mormonism,  and  followed  him 
to  Utah.  The  system  of  polygamy  had,  however,  been  kept  a  secret 
from  Editha.  When  Holmsten  is  about  to  take  an  additional  wife, 
Editha  is  so  deeply  offended  morally  that  she  flees  into  the  wildness 
with  her  child.  Herta,  it  appears,  had,  while  still  in  Europe,  been 
converted  to  Mormonism  by  her  French  teacher,  Corbillon.  The 
latter,  an  adventuress  in  league  with  the  Mormons,  has  intentionally 
kept  Herta  in  ignorance  of  the  polygamy  practised  by  the  Mormons. 
Corbillon  acompanies  the  innocent  girl  to  New  York  where  under 
great  secrecy  (it  is  the  time  of  the  war  between  the  United  States 
and  the  Mormons)  she  is  placed  in  a  boat  bound  for  California. 
From  thence  she  is  conveyed  to  Utah  to  become  the  wife  of  a 
Mormon.  The  efforts  of  these  two  women  to  escape  from  a  life  of 
shame  and  dishonor  among  the  Mormon  polygamists,  their  many 
trials  and  hardships,  and  their  final  rescue  through  some  Protes 
tant  missionaries  and  faithful  Mohaves,  form  the  substructure  of 
this  novel. 

Mollhausen  has  described  well  the  strange  mixture  of  nation 
alities  gathered  together  in  California  in  those  early  days.  In  ka 
leidoscopic  fashion  we  witness  thrilling  scenes  of  war  between  the 
United  States  and  the  Mormons,  the  endeavors  of  the  latter  to 
convert  the  Mohave  and  Colorado  Indians,  the  counteracting  efforts 


96  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

of  a  Presbyterian  missionary,  and  life  as  it  was  then  in  Salt  Lake 
City. 

An  extremely  amusing  scene  is  the  Mormon  baptism  of  Indians 
by  immersion. 

Fine  character  portrayals  are  those  of  Black  Beaver,  an  histori 
cal  Indian  and  Raft,  an  old  seaman  who  constantly  speaks  in  terms 
of  a  sailor.  Interesting  also  is  the  immigrant  who,  having  seen  a 
bit  of  Indian  life,  is  so  charmed  with  their  manner  of  life  that  he 
affects  Indian  ways  and  smokes  from  a  stone  pipe.  Of  him  it  is  said : 
"Der  erzahlte  Ihnen  Jagdgeschichten,  wie  sie  selbst  Cooper's  Na 
thaniel  Bumpo  nicht  merkwiirdiger  erlebte." 

Reliquien.  Ersahlungen  und  Schilderungen  aus  dem  westlichen 
Nordamcrika.  3  Bde.  Berlin.  1865. 

Upon  the  above  successful  novel  appeared  the  author's  second 
collection  of  short  stories  and  sketches.  In  this  collection  Die  Reli 
quien,  Die  Buffelhaut,  Die  Messerscheide,  Der  Tabaksbeutel,  Der 
Lasso,  Der  Lederrock,  Die  Mokassins,  and  Das  Schreibzeug  are  de 
lightful  little  still-life  pictures  called  forth  by  the  relics  of  his  wan 
derings  in  western  America,  which  now  adorned  the  walls  of  the 
author's  study  in  Potsdam.11 

Der  Hornfrosch  is  the  story  of  the  fate  of  some  French  emi 
grants  who  have  started  out  from  Council  Bluffs  to  make  their  way 
across  the  western  plains  to  the  California  gold  fields.  They  are 
left  deserted  on  the  prairies  by  Kioway  Indians  who  have  robbed 
them  of  their  horses.  Die  Meermuschel  is  a  story  of  planter  and 
slave  life  in  Panama  shortly  after  the  first  railroad  had  been  built 
there.  Der  Eichenzweig  sets  forth  an  episode  in  the  life  of  an  artist 
who  finds  himself  among  the  Indians  along  the  Mississippi. 


11  Of  these  relics  he  writes  in  his  first  sketch  Die  Reliquien  (p.  5)  : 
"Sorgfaltig  geordnet  hangen  sie  zum  Theil  vor  mir  an  der  Wand;  wahrend 
ich  schreibe,  fliegen  meine  Blicke  gelegentlich  iiber  sie  hin,  wobei  ich 
zuweilen  bedaure,  dass  sie  nicht  sprechen  konnen.  Ja,  wenn  sie  nur  sprechen 
konnten,  was  wurden  sie  dann  wohl  erzahlen?  Denn  sie  existirten  ja  schon 
lange  vorher,  ehe  sie  in  meinen  Besitz  iibergingen.  Zum  Beispiel  der  grosse 
Mohavebogen  und  der  neben  demselben  befestigte  Federschmuck ;  die  ge- 
fleckte  Haut  einer  Schlange  und  die  schweren  mit  klirrenden  Zierrathen  be- 

hangenen  mexikanischen  Sporen die  Mokassins  eines  schwarz- 

augigen  Dacotahmadchens,   der  harene  Lasso  eines  Comanches 

Es  sind  Reliquien,  das  fiihle  vor  alien  Dingen  ich  selbst,  wenn  in  stillen_ein- 
samen  Stunden,  wahrend  meine  Blicke  auf  den  lieben  Andenken  aus  meinem 
zauberisch  schonen  Wanderleben  haften,  plotzlich  langst  vergessene  Bilder 
vor  mir  auftauchen,  und  ich  mich  dann  beeile,  sie  fest  zu  bannen  und  auf- 
zuzeichnen." 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  97 

Whip- poor-Will  and  Die  Castagnetten  are  more  pretentious  nar 
ratives  and  may  be  termed  novelettes.  While  reading  one  day  in  a 
worn  and  travel-stained  notebook  Mollhausen  came  upon  these  lines : 

"Whip-poor-Will  oder  Ziegenmelker geschossen 

am  18.  Mai,  1858,  im  Lager  bei  Fort  Defiance  im  Navahoe  Terri- 
torium."  This  incident  furnished  the  suggestion  for  Whip-poor- 
Will,  the  story  of  a  German  student  wandering  in  America.  He 
falls  in  love  with  the  daughter  of  a  Kansas  frontiersman.  It  is  the 
time  shortly  before  the  Civil  War.  Kansas  is  about  to  be  admitted  to 
the  Union.  The  frontiersman  favors  the  North.  The  Southern  ele 
ment  is  eager  to  gather  sufficient  votes  to  make  of  it  a  slave  state,  and 
politicians  have  employed  a  gang  of  ruffians  to  force  those  with 
Northern  sympathies  to  vote  for  the  Southern  cause.  The  settle 
ment  of  the  frontiersman  is  attacked  and  the  young  German  who 
assists  him  is  killed.  This  is  the  embryonic  plot  which  is  later 
developed,  and  forms  the  chief  motive  in  Mollhausen's  last  novel 
Der  Vaquero.  Die  Castagnetten  relates  a  dream  which  the  author 
supposedly  had  when  lodging  in  the  Spanish  mission  of  San  Fer 
nando  in  California  while  on  the  United  States  expedition  to  the 
Colorado.  The  author  actually  introduces  characters  who  were  with 
him  on  the  expedition.  It  is  a  wild,  fantastic  tale,  and  in  imaginative 
quality  surpasses  Mollhausen's  other  works.  Its  weird  and  grue 
some  quality  point  to  the  Gothic  romance.  In  this  collection  of 
stories  and  sketches  the  author  has  asserted  his  poetic  temperament. 
He  has  departed  from  his  usual  realism  and  taken  on  the  more  ro 
mantic  attitude  of  Cooper. 

Die  Mandanenweise.  Erzdhhing  aus  den  Rheinlanden  und  dem 
Stromgebiet  des  Missouri.  4  Bde.  Berlin.  1865. 

In  regard  to  content  this  is  one  of  Mollhausen's  most  interesting 
novels.  In  the  first  pages  of  the  novel  the  author  himsdf  enters 
and  recounts  some  of  his  earlier  experiences  while  with  Duke  Paul 
of  Wiirtemberg,  his  being  left  on  a  snow-swept  prairie,  and  his  final 
rescue  by  a  band  of  Ottoe  Indians.  While  with  the  Indians  he 
succeeds  by  strategy  in  getting  at  the  mysterious  powwowing  chest 
of  the  medicine-man,  and  finds  at  the  bottom  a  manuscript.  Moll 
hausen  then  withdraws  as  an  active  character,  and  gives,  without 
essential  alterations,  as  he  says,  the  contents  of  the  manuscript.  It 
is  the  autobiography  of  a  German  in  which  he  tells  of  his  boyhood 
days  on  the  Rhine,  his  school  days,  university  career,  revolutionary 


98  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

days,  final  flight  to  America,  and  his  life  among  the  Indians  there. 
All  is  told  with  simplicity,  grace,  and  apparent  verity. 

In  describing  the  hero's  boyhood,  the  author  has  probably  intro 
duced  recollections  of  his  own  early  days  along  the  Rhine.  Gustav 
Wandel  was  reared  in  a  severe  Prussian  atmosphere,  under  the 
guardianship  of  an  old  forester  who  recognized  only  two  colors, 
namely  the  Prussian  black  and  white;  who  knew  only  two  songs, 
"Heil  Dir  im  Siegerkranz"  and  "So  leben  wir";  only  one  ideal  state, 
Prussia;  and  only  one  king,  Frederick  William  the  Third.  The 
boy  was  prepared  for  the  University,  and  entered  Bonn  when  the 
first  mutteririgs  of  the  revolution  of  1832  were  heard  along  the  Prus 
sian  horizon.  Here  Gustav  Wandel  falls  in  with  a  group  ,of  youth 
ful  enthusiasts  who  combine,  defy  the  law,  and  proclaim  revolu 
tion.  Student  life  in  the  revolutionary  German  "Burschenschaften" 
the  author  treats  in  a  fascinating  manner.  One  of  these  enthusiastic 
"Burschen"  says :  "Doch  soviel  kann  ich  Ihnen  mitteilen,  es  handelt 
sich  darum,  ein  freies,  einiges  Deutschland  herzustellen,  ein 
Deutschland,  wie  es  unsern  Sangern  vorschwebt,  wenn  sie  in  heiliger 
Begeisterung  ihren  Gedanken  Wort  verleihen ;  ein  Deutschland, 
wie  es  jeder  Burger  mit  stolz  sein  Vaterland  nennen  wiirde,  anstatt 
dass  es  jetzt  dem  Spotte  fremder  Nationen  preisgegeben  ist."  We 
follow  the  band  of  students  to  Frankfort.  We  witness  their  revo 
lutionary  outbreak,  and  we  see  the  futility  of  their  actions.  They 
are  scattered.  Some  escape,  others  are  imprisoned.  Among  the 
latter  is  Gustav  Wandel,  who,  with  the  assistance  of  friends,  man 
ages  to  escape  and  flee  to  America.  A  tragic  love  episode  is  inter 
woven.  Johanna,  seeing  her  lover  disgraced,  robbed  of  the  possi 
bilities  of  a  career,  an  exile,  in  her  bitter  disappointment,  finally 
dies  of  a  broken  heart. 

In  the  second  half  of  this  novel  we  are  transferred  with  our  hero 
to  the  regions  of  the  Missouri.  Here  Gustav  leads  a  lonely  life  as  a 
trapper.  One  day,  in  his  wanderings,  he  comes  upon  the  remains 
of  an  Indian  village,  totally  wiped  out  by  an  epidemic  of  smallpox. 
Sitting  among  the  dead,  and  singing  a  lament,  is  a  slender  maid  of 
the  Mandane  tribe,  little  more  than  a  child.  It  is  Schanhatta  who 
becomes  his  devoted  companion  on  his  lonely  wanderings  until  she 
grows  to  womanhood.  She  becomes  educated  and  the  trapper  finally 
takes  her  as  his  wife.  This  character,  though  somewhat  idealized, 
is  a  charming  creation  and  gives  the  novel  its  name. 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  99 

Gustav  VVandel  had  come  to  America  in  the  fall  of  1833.  The 
manuscript,  which  the  author  informs  the  reader  he  had  found  only 
goes  to  1839,  and  leaves  Wandel  among  the  Indians  without  further 
knowledge  of  his  fate.  In  1852,  Mollhausen,  returning  from  his 
wanderings  along  the  upper  Missouri,  meets  in  the  vicinity  of 
St.  Louis,  a  gardner  with  a  long  pipe  in  his  mouth.  He  is  a  German 
spending  his  old  age  in  the  cultivation  of  vineyards.  It  proves  to  be 
Gustav  Wandel,  who  after  his  many  wanderings,  is  spending  his 
last  years  in  peaceful  retirement  by  the  side  of  his  faithful  Indian 
wife,  Schanhatta. 

Der  Meerkonig.  Eine  Ersiihlung.  6  Bde.  Jena.  1867.  This  novel 
points  to  the  author's  later  sea-novels.  It  can,  however,  hardly  be 
termed  such  itself  as  it  only  depicts  life  on  the  sea  in  the  last 
three  volumes.  It  is  on  the  whole  a  rather  disappointing  novel. 
The  reader  wearies  through  three  volumes  of  plot  development,  in 
which  the  author  introduces  a  number  of  characters,  entangles  the 
story  into  a  thousand  knots,  and  then  sets  out  to  disentangle  them 
in  the  following  three  volumes.  The  Meerkonig  himself  is  intro 
duced  only  in  the  fourth  volume.  There  is  excellent  character  de 
lineation  ;  the  plot  itself  has  little  to  commend  it. 

The  rather  democratic  Graf  Storberg,  no  longer  young,  marries 
a  young  woman  of  inferior  station,  who  bears  him  two  children, 
Paul  and  Elisabeth.  The  children  of  his  first  wife,  Hannibal  and 
Clotilda,  who  are  much  older,  are  generally  nonplussed  by  the  arrival 
of  these  two  inferior  relatives.  They  see  in  them  only  a  difficulty 
in  dividing  the  estate  and  take  it  upon  themselves  to  dispose  of  the 
two  children.  Elisabeth  is  by  an  unknown  hand  placed  in  an  orphan 
asylum,  and  Paul  is  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  bribed  captain  whose 
vessel  is  bound  for  America.  Paul  is  to  be  left  in  Texas.  With 
that  ease  in  transferring  his  readers  from  one  clime  to  another  which 
characterizes  the  exotic  novelist,  we  now  find  ourselves,  in  the  fourth 
volume,  in  the  Bahamas.  The  remarkable  seaman  known  as  "Der 
Meerkonig"  is  in  charge  of  a  cutter  plying  along  the  Bahama  Islands. 
He  is  in  the  employment  of  Stephens,  keeper  of  the  lightboat  "Car 
dinal".  Stephens  is  in  reality  a  coast-robber,  who,  in  the  guise 
of  a  lightboat  keeper,  has  for  years  been  wrecking  and  robbing 
vessels.  These  last  three  volumes  introducing  sea  life  along  the 
Bahamas,  negro  life  on  the  islands,  and  the  exciting  adventures  of 
pirates,  constitute  the  most  fascinating  part  of  the  novel.  "Der 
Seekonig"  is  none  other  than  Paul,  who  was  the  sole  survivor 


ioo  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

of  the  ship  on  which  he  was  to  be  conveyed  to  Texas.  A  mere  boy 
of  eight,  he  was  picked  up  by  the  coast-robber,  Stephens,  through 
whom  the  vessel  had  been  wrecked.  The  restoration  of  Paul  to 
his  rights  as  the  son  of  Graf  Storberg,  the  recovery  of  his  sister, 
and  the  final  reconciliation  of  the  various  members  of  the  family, 
furnish  the  material  for  the  last  volume. 

Nord  und  Siid.  Erz'dhlungen  und  Schilderungen  aus  dem  west- 
lichen  N ordamerika.  2  Bde.  Jena.  1867. 

The  first  volume  consists  of  the  tale  Alice  Ludlow  and  the  narra 
tive  Der  erste  Baum  zur  Blockhiitte.  The  former  is  a  tale  of  the 
Civil  War.  Alice  Ludlow's  mother,  a  southern  woman,  had  married 
a  Northerner  and  left  her  family.  Alice  Trenton,  on  growing  to 
womanhood,  meets  young  George  Ludlow,  a  Southerner  who  is 
studying  in  the  North.  She  accompanies  him  to  his  plantation  as 
his  wife  shortly  before  the  Civil  War.  George  Ludlow  enlists  in  the 
cause  of  the  Secessionists,  Alice  remaining  on  the  plantation  with 
her  infant  and  several  female  relatives.  Family  differences  caused 
by  her  being  a  Northerner  have  brought  much  suffering  upon  Alice. 
George  is  taken  prisoner  by  the  Northerners  and  brought  to  Camp 
Douglas  in  Wisconsin.  Alice,  with  the  help  of  several  faithful 
slaves,  escapes  from  the  plantation  where  she  has  been  so  ill-treated 
and  journeys  north  to  join  her  husband  in  prison.  On  arriving 
she  is  told  he  is  dead  and  is  taken  to  his  grave.  In  reality  George 
Ludlow,  through  the  aid  of  a  friendly  sergeant,  takes  the  clothing 
of  a  dead  prisoner  and  escapes.  The  dead  man  found  in  Ludlow's 
clothes  is  buried  as  the  latter.  Later  Alice  and  George  Ludlow 
again  find  each  other.  The  story  has  the  atmosphere  of  the  Civil 
War.  Southern  plantations  with  their  slaves  are  described,  and 
mention  of  John  Brown's  death  and  Sherman's  march  to  the  sea, 
as  well  as  a  eulogy  on  Lincoln  go  to  make  the  historic  background. 

Der  erste  Baum  zur  Blockhutte  is  a  well  drawn  picture  of  early 
pioneer  days  in  the  state  of  Illinois.  Harper  and  his  family  have 
migrated  to  the  West  and  with  the  aid  of  well-meaning  neighbors, 
who  have  come  from  all  sides,  a  log  cabin  is  erected.  The  cere 
mony  of  cutting  the  first  tree  for  the  new  home  is  described  in  a 
charming  manner. 

Der  Feldmesser  and  Prairiebilder  make  up  the  second  volume. 
The  former  is  a  tale  of  early  pioneer  days  along  the  Great  Lakes, 
full  of  splendid  descriptions  of  natural  scenery.  It  is  the  love  story 
of  a  young  surveyor  and  the  daughter  of  the  pioneer  Jenison.  The 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  101 

latter  has  a  fine  settlement  at  Cuyahoga  Falls.  Jenkins,  a  neighbor, 
insists  that  boundaries  have  not  been  drawn  rightly.  He  endeavors 
to  show  that  Jenison's  house  and  a  great  part  of  his  cleared  fields 
are  on  his  property.  Jenkins  is  in  love  with  Jenison's  daughter,  and 
thinks  that  Jenison  will  grant  him  his  daughter  in  marriage,  in  the 
idea  of  thus  canceling  the  apparent  debt.  However,  the  young  gov 
ernment  surveyor,  Gerald,  arrives  upon  the  scene  at  the  right  mo 
ment,  surveys  the  property,  finds  the  boundaries  correct,  and  him 
self  marries  the  daughter. 

Prairiebilder  may  be  counted  among  Mollenhausen's  choicest 
bits  of  prose.  The  poetry  of  the  prairies,  the  grandeur  of  a  rising 
storm  and  sweeping  prairie  fire  are  here  sketched  with  a  hand  that 
speaks  for  the  author's  keen  love  for  nature  and  his  impressionable 
artistic  temperament. 

Der  Hochlandpfcifer.  Erzahlung.  6  Bde.  Jena.  1868.  The 
scenes  of  action  of  this  complicated  novel  are  Scotland,  Germany, 
and  America.  There  is  comparatively  little  of  that  American  ma 
terial  in  this  work  which  we  have  come  to  expect  in  a  novel  by 
Mollhausen.  The  novel  opens  in  the  Grampian  hills  of  Scotland. 
Rob  MacLeary,  looked  upon  as  the  last  of  the  clan  of  the  Mac- 
Learys,  was  reared  by  his  great  grandmother.  On  her  deathbed 
she  reveals  to  him  that  he  is  not  a  MacLeary,  but  the  son  of  Lord 
Maclvor,  the  last  member  of  an  ancient  race  to  whom  the  Mac- 
Learys  are  subservient.  At  the  same  time  she  gives  him  a  fragment 
of  a  letter  long  in  her  possession.  The  Maclvors  had,  through  law 
suits,  been  deprived  of  their  lands,  become  destitute,  and  finally 
emigrated  to  America  "wo  die  Arbeit  nicht  schandet".  In  vie\v  of 
the  trying  ocean  voyages  of  those  days  the  Maclvors  decided  to 
leave  their  recent  infant  in  charge  of  the  MacLearys  hoping  to  re 
claim  it  at  a  later  time.  The  MacLearys,  however,  desirious  of 
placing  their  own  child  before  the  eyes  of  the  world  as  that  of  the 
proud  race  of  the  Maclvors,  expose  the  infant  entrusted  to  them.  It 
is  found  by  wandering  gypsies  who  for  a  sum  of  money  give  it 
over  to  a  German  travelling  in  England,  and  whose  wife  has  born 
him  no  son.  He  brings  the  child  to  North  Germany  where  the  scene 
of  the  novel  now  shifts,  and  there  it  grows  up  as  Fo-rtis,  the  son  of 
Major  von  Hainfeld.  The  life  of  the  young  man  on  the  estate  and 
German  village  life  are  told  by  the  author  at  a  rather  disproportion 
ate  length.  Young  Fortis,  on  becoming  an  adult,  discovers  that 
he  is  not  the  rightful  son  of  the  Major.  The  latter  tells  him  as 


IO2  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

much  of  his  origin  as  he  knows,  gives  him  a  fragment  of  a  letter 
which  had  been  found  upon  the  body  of  the  exposed  babe  by  the 
gypsies,  and  allows  him,  with  this  clue,  to  go  to  America  in  search 
of  his  parents.  The  Maclvors  have  settled  in  Michigan  and  estab 
lished  a  mill  near  Mackinaw  Island.  Accompanying  them  to  their 
home  in  the  new  world  was  one  who  had  long  been  a  devoted  mem 
ber  of  the  family  of  the  Lords  Maclvor.  It  is  the  Scotch  highland 
piper,  now  more  than  a  hundred  years  old,  "Der  Hochlandpfeifer'', 
for  whom  the  novel  is  named.  He  is  a  strange  and  picturesque 
character,  with  a  mysterious  power  of  second  sight  and  prophecy. 
He  predicts  that  the  son  of  Maclvor  will  yet  come  to  his  own  and 
the  glory  of  the  ancient  family  be  restored.  Rob  MacLeary,  who, 
we  remember,  had  been  informed  that  he  is  the  rightful  son  of  Lord 
Maclvor  and  who  is  in  possession  of  the  other  part  of  the  letter 
(through  which  all  is  to  be  made  clear!)  also  comes  to  America  in 
search  of  his  parents.  He  has  already  found  his  way  to  the  Mac- 
Ivors  in  Michigan  and  been  accepted  as  their  son,  when  Fortis  von 
Hainfeld  arrives  upon  the  scene  with  his  claims.  The  unravelling  of 
this  situation  and  the  restoration  of  the  rightful  son  of  the  Maclvors 
is  the  task  the  author  undertakes  to  do.  The  descriptions  of  early 
pioneer  life  along  Lakes  Huron  and  Michigan  are  perhaps  the  most 
refreshing  parts  of  this  lengthy  novel. 

Das  Hundertguldenblatt.  Ers'dhlung.  6  Bde.  Berlin.  1870. 
Mollhausen  has  chosen  an  interesting  background  for  the  first  part 
of  this  story.  It  is  the  time  of  the  Civil  War.  Fierce  Confederate 
guerrillas  are  sweeping  the  country,  marauding  and  devastating  the 
property  of  isolated  farmers  siding  with  the  North.  Among  the 
states  which  were  especially  exposed  to  these  undisciplined  bands 
was  Texas,  and  among  those  to  suffer  most  were  the  German 
farmers  occupying  isolated  farms,  and  the  population  of  the  frontier 
towns  of  Neu-Braunfels,  Austin,  and  Georgetown  with  their  large 
German  element.  Near  the  above  towns,  along  Sandy  Creek,  among 
the  rolling  forehills  of  the  Llano  Estacado  dwell  the  German  Frank 
Willmot  and  his  widowed  mother.  The  latter  is  a  woman  of  sensi 
tive  temperament  and  little  in  place  among  these  rude  pioneer  sur 
roundings.  She  longs  to  return  to  Germany.  In  her  possession  is 
a  very  valuable  copper  engraving  by  Rembrandt.  It  is  the  "Hun 
dertguldenblatt".  However,  in  the  first  three  volumes  this  en 
graving  and  its  accompanying  mystery  have  no  part. 


Balduin  Mollhansen,  The  German  Cooper  103 

Frank  Willmot  is  a  staunch  supporter  of  the  North.  The  story 
of  his  struggles  and  those  of  his  neighbors  against  the  Southern 
marauders  and  the  final  flight  of  the  farmers  to  an  old  military 
station  for  refuge  supplies  much  of  the  material  for  the  first  part  of 
this  work.  Frank  Willmot  loves  the  proud  and  beautiful  Flora 
Bailie,  the  daughter  of  a  rich  Texan  slave  owner.  However,  her 
strong  love  for  the  South  and  its  institutions  is  a  hindrance  to  their 
union.  A  strongly  delineated  character  is  old  Japhet,  once  one  of 
the  famous  Texan  rangers  who  assists  Frank  in  his  struggles  against 
the  Southern  ruffians. 

Under  the  title  "Das  Fest  der  Neger"  in  Volume  II,  the  author 
has  described  in  a  thrilling  manner  the  orgies  of  some  negro  slaves 
who  have  risen  against  their  master  and  made  him  prisoner. 

In  Volume  III  Bailie's  slaves  kill  their  master,  devastate  the 
farm,  and  then  make  their  escape.  Flora,  a  typical  daughter  of  the 
South,  ablaze  with  hatred  against  the  North,  leaves  the  country  too 
proud  to  speak  a  word  to  Frank  Willmot.  Frank,  downcast,  agrees 
finally  to  return  with  his  mother  to  Germany  for  a  time. 

The  action  of  the  last  three  volumes  of  this  novel  takes  place 
wholly  on  German  soil  and  has  little  inner  connection  with  the 
wealth  of  material  presented  in  the  first  part.  There  is  practically 
no  local  color.  It  is  the  story  itself  which  holds  the  reader.  Most 
of  the  characters  are  introduced  for  the  first  time.  The  reader 
finds  himself  in  an  art  atmosphere,  and  follows  connoisseurs  in  their 
search  for  valuable  engravings.  Among  the  great  collectors  is  Herr 
Horst  who  is  the  possessor  of  a  very  extensive  collection,  but  lacks 
the  celebrated  "Hundertguldenblatt"  of  Rembrandt,  an  engraving 
setting  forth  the  healing  of  the  sick.  This  engraving  he  had  given 
to  his  betrothed  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  to  be  kept  by  her  until 
their  marriage.  He  grew  faithless  to  the  young  woman  who  mi 
grated  to  America  with  her  child  and  the  engraving.  There  she 
married  the  kind-hearted,  prosperous  American,  Willmot,  who 
reared  her  son  Frank  as  his  own.  Through  all  the  years  she  had 
cherished  tender  memories,  and.  upon  the  husband's  death,  returns 
to  Germany  to  seek  her  old  lover.  Herr  Horst,  an  invalid  for 
twenty-five  years  as  the  result  of  youthful  errors,  has  withdrawn 
from  society  and  led  a  secluded  and  penitent  life.  The  novel  ends 
with  the  return  of  the  "Hundertguldenblatt"  to  its  original  owner, 
the  union  of  Mrs.  Willmot  with  her  early  lover,  Herr  Horst,  and  his 
recognition  of  Frank  as  his  own  son.  While  the  story  is  sufficiently 


IO4  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

interesting,  the  reader  will  yet  agree  that  it  could  have  been  told 
in  less  than  six  volumes. 

Der  Piratenlieutenant.  Roman.  4  Bde.  Berlin.  1870.  Of 
the  two  German  brothers  Braun,  the  one  has  taken  up  the  simple 
occupation  of  his  father  and  become  a  drayman;  the  other,  having 
had  an  unfortunate  love  affair  with  a  woman  already  betrothed  to 
another,  emigrated  to  America  where  he  has  amassed  great  wealth. 
He  had  been  the  owner  of  a  plantation  with  several  hundred  slaves 
in  Georgia.  Upon  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  he  had  given  his 
slaves  letters  of  freedom,  and  moved  to  St.  Louis  where  he  spent 
his  last  years.  In  spite  of  great  losses  he  still  remained  a  wealthy 
man.  In  later  years  the  wealthy  Braun  hears  that  the  woman  he 
loved  and  her  husband  have  both  died  leaving  an  orphan  child.  In 
memory  of  his  old  love,  he  generously  concludes  to  adopt  this  child, 
Anna  Werth,  as  his  own.  She  prepares  to  journey  to  America,  but 
encounters  great  difficulties.  The  German  advocate  Alven,  knowing 
that  Anna  Werth  will  be  one  of  Braun's  heirs,  tries  to  marry  her. 
Eberhard  Braun,  the  son  of  his  poor  brother  in  Germany  is  also  to 
be  an  heir.  In  the  meanwhile  young  Eberhard  has  gone  to  America 
where  he  is  trying  to  make  a  living  under  an  assumed  name. 
Probably  of  greater  interest  to  the  reader  than  the  mere  plot  is 
the  cultural  background  against  which  it  is  enacted.  It  is  the 
time  of  the  Civil  War.  The  reader  follows  along  the  devastating 
paths  of  rebels  who  have  recaptured  fugitive  slaves,  or  kidnapped 
free  slaves,  and  led  them  back  to  the  South.  These  slave-drivers 
are  in  turn  pursued  by  men  of  the  North  who  have  called  some 
Indians  to  their  aid.  The  wealthy  Braun  is  much  concerned  about 
the  recovery  of  two  free  colored  women  whom  he  had  taken  into 
his  protection.  They  have  been  kidnapped  and  taken  to  the  South 
where  they  are  to  be  held  as  slaves. 

The  author  then  gives  an  account  of  the  awful  conditions  which 
prevailed  along  the  seacoast  of  the  Southern  States  in  the  time  of 
the  Civil  War.  Numerous  boats  in  the  employ  of  the  South  were 
plying  along  the  coast,  attacking  and  robbing  merchant  boats.  One 
of  these  piratic  boats,  the  "Revenger"  is  under  the  command  of 
Lieutenant  Arthur.  It  has  held  up  the  German  vessel  the  "Was- 
sernix"  on  which  Anna  Werth  is  a  passenger  to  America.  The 
"Revenger"  passes  over  a  mine  in  Savannah  harbor  and  is  blown  up. 
Lieutenant  Arthur  and  Anna  Werth  have  both  escaped.  The  former 
is  none  other  than  Eberhard  Braun,  who,  after  much  adversity  in 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  105 

the  new  world,  lias  taken  a  position  on  this  southern  vessel.  The 
rich  uncle,  Eberhard,  and  Anna,  after  many  devious  wanderings, 
come  together;  the  three  return  to  Germany;  a  reconciliation  takes 
place  between  the  long  estranged  brothers,  and  Eberhard  Braun  and 
Anna  Werth  are  united  in  marriage. 

Der  Kessel flicker.  Erziihlung.  5  Bde.  Berlin.  1871.  The 
reader  is  introduced  to  the  aristocratic  von  Seedorf  family  in  Ger 
many.  The  family  has  been  reduced  to  poverty  through  the  pro 
fligacy  of  the  son,  an  officer,  who  has  been  led  to  a  wild  life  by 
Albert  von  Felgen.  The  latter  has  betrayed  his  comrade's  sister 
Helene  von  Seedorf.  A  duel  follows  between  young  von  Seedorf 
and  Albert  von  Felgen,  after  which  both  disappear,  von  Seedorf 
emigrating  to  New  Mexico  where  we  meet  him  years  later  as  the 
much  liked  mail-coach  driver,  Boulder.  In  the  free  life  of  the  West 
with  its  healthful  atmosphere  von  Seedorf  has  lived  a  life  of 
repentance.  He  has  married  a  Mexican  woman,  by  whom  he  has 
a  daughter.  His  wife  dying  early,  and  being  passionately  devoted 
to  his  daughter,  he  has  had  her  put  on  masculine  attire  and  given 
her  masculine  training  in  order  that  she  might  accompany  him  on 
his  mail-routes  from  the  Missouri  across  the  plains  to  Santa  Fe. 
The  name  of  the  daughter  is  Manuela,  but  she  is  known  far  and 
wide  as  the  "Postreiter"  Manuel. 

At  the  opening  of  the  work  the  blind  Baron  von  Seedorf  and 
his  daughter  Helene  are  found  in  great  poverty.  The  estate,  heavy 
with  debts,  has  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Jewish  usurer  Lam- 
berger.  Helene  has  for  years  been  mourning  the  loss  of  her  son 
who,  as  she  thinks,  was  kidnapped  by  her  brother,  and  taken  to 
America,  where  all  traces  of  him  have  been  lost.  In  reality,  how 
ever,  the  son  was  taken  by  the  former  school  teacher  of  the  village, 
who  had  been  grossly  maltreated  by  the  Baron,  and  seeks  revenge 
by  taking  Helene's  son,  an  heir  to  the  Baron's  estates,  and  raising 
him  as  his  own. 

Since  then  years  have  passed.  Helene's  nephew,  Werner  von 
Radlow,  driven  by  misfortune  to  seek  a  livelihood  in  America,  a 
land  where  "die  Arbeit  nicht  herabwiirdigt",  takes  it  upon  himself 
to  find  out  Helene's  long  lost  brother. 

At  last  the  author  is  again  in  his  favorite  domain.  The  poetry 
of  the  prairies,  stage-coach  life  from  the  Missouri  to  Santa  Fe, 
New  Mexican  life,  the  Canons  and  the  Indian  ruins  of  Pecos  are 
introduced  and  treated  in  the  author's  usual  felicitous  manner.  In- 


io6  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

toxicated  with  his  memories  of  the  prairies,  he  writes  in  poetic 
prose:  "O,  die  liebe  Erinnerung  an  jene  Zeiten,  in  welchen  man 
keinen  anderen  Herrn  iiber  sich  anerkannte,  als  denjenigen,  welcher 
die  Prairie  mit  Allem,  was  sie  belebte,  schuf  und  schmiickte !  Das 
Herz,  wie  schlagt  es  schneller  bei  solchen  Erinnerungen,  und  wie 
erweitert  sich  die  Brust !  Man  mochte  sich  hinaufwiinschen  bis 
in  die  Wolken,  und  hoher  noch,  weit  hdher,  um  die  alten, 
vertrauten  Jagdgriinde,  vom  beeisten  Norden  bis  hinunter  zum 
blauen  Golf  von  Mexico,  von  dem  tragen,  einherrollenden  .Mis 
sissippi  bis  an  die  iange  Kette  der  Rocky  Mountains  mit  einem  ein- 

zigen  Blicke  zu  umfassen Man  mochte  zuriick- 

scheuchen  die  unaufhaltsam  vordringende  Woge  der  Civilisation, 
hinter  welcher  spurlos  verschwinden  der  zottige  Bison  und  der 
braune  Jager,  welche  man  kiihn  die  Poesie  des  'fernen  Westens' 
nennen  mochte !" 

The  discovery  of  Boulder  as  the  long  gone  von  Seedorf,  his 
return  to  Europe  and  reconciliation  with  his  father,  the  Baron, 
Helene's  union  with  Albert  von  Felgen,  the  restoration  of  the  friend 
ship  between  von  Seedorf  and  von  Felgen,  and  the  final  disclosure  of 
Weber,  the  earlier  schoolmaster  who  has  wandered  throughout  the 
country  for  years  as  Karpet,  the  "Kesselflicker",  that  his  son 
Stephan  is  in  reality  Helene's  child :  such  in  brief  is  the  material  for 
this  rambling  novel.  The  plot  lacks  unity.  It  introduces  many 
episodes  not  sufficiently  motivated  and  with  no  other  apparent  pur 
pose  than  to  draw  out  the  story. 

Das  Finkenhaus.  Roman.  4  Bde.  Berlin.  1872.  In  a  fanciful 
introduction  we  find  the  author  seated  upon  the  sands  of  a  seashore 
and  listening  to  the  waves  which  have  begun  to  speak  to  him.  He 
visits  them  day  after  day  and  has  finally  learned  from  them  the 
story  which  he  has  to  tell  us  in  the  following  pages.  In  Chapter  II 
we  are  on  an  ocean  vessel  in  the  steerage  of  which  are  many  emi 
grants.  In  a  graphic  manner  Mollhausen  leaves  us  to  see  both  the 
joys  and  sorrows  of  these  simple  beings  with  their  great  yearnings 
for  a  better  life  in  the  new  world.  We  make  the  acquaintance  of 
the  magnanimous  old  Jew,  Ruben,  who  is  crossing  the  ocean  to  join 
his  son  in  Missouri ;  of  the  athletic  giantess,  Frau  Giirgens,  who 
with  her  husband  is  about  to  tour  the  United  States  with  an  acrobatic 
troop ;  of  the  poor  young  German  philologist  Giinther  who  is  soon 
told  that  "mit  Ihren  philologischen  Kentnissen  sind  Sie  nicht  im 
Stande  in  der  grossen  Republik  einen  Hund  vom  Of  en  zu  locken", 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  107 

and  who  is  later  obliged  to  accept  the  humiliating  position  of  a 
musician  in  Frau  Gurgens'  acrobatic  troop ;  also  of  the  poor  unfor 
tunate  woman  whose  name  is  not  known  and  who  upon  giving  birth 
to  a  daughter  is  buried  at  sea.  The  name  of  the  vessel  being  "Die 
Maiblume",  the  captain  baptizes  the  infant  Therese  Mayflower.  It 
is  the  fortunes  of  this  child  until  it  is  rightfully  restored  to  its 
relatives,  which  form  the  material  for  this  novel.  The  lost  or  strayed 
child  motive  is  conventional  enough,  but  one  which  the  author  em 
ploys  in  a  new  manner  again  and  again. 

In  Chapter  V  we  find  Frau  Gurgens  and  her  husband  Giinther, 
and  the  dancer  Sybilla  in  a  variety  theatre  in  New  Orleans.  For 
three  years  the  Civil  War  has  been  raging  and  that  city  is  in  the 
hands  of  the  Unionists.  In  New  Orleans  stands  the  old  delapidated 
Finkenhaus,  where  the  two  brothers  Fink  lived.  The  one,  "Gold- 
fink",  had  early  come  to  America,  become  a  slave  owner,  and  grown 
rich ;  the  other,  "Kaferfink",  a  learned  zoologist,  had,  on  account 
of  family  troubles,  also  gone  to  America,  but  being  too  unpractical 
for  the  new  world,  had  eked  out  a  wretched  existence  as  a  collector 
of  insects  and  reptiles.  The  "Kaferfink"  is  in  league  with  the 
young  Unionist  Gideon  who  is  working  hard  to  combat  the  hostile 
Clu  Clux  Clan  which  was  then  proving  so  disastrous  for  the 
Unionists.  In  this  fashion  Mollhausen  weaves  into  an  interesting 
story  valuable  historical  matter  for  his  German  readers.  A  part 
of  the  action  takes  place  in  Missouri  where  the  "Kaferfink"  has 
gone.  There  he  is  greeted  by  a  German  farmer  in  a  manner  which 
humorously  characterizes  the  speech  of  the  German-American. 
"W 'ell  Fremder,  ich  calculate,  Ihr  findet  in  meinem  Hause  ein  Ob- 
dach,  much  better,  als  Ihr  es  vielleicht  expected  zumal  supper 
gleich  ready  ist  anyhow." 

In  Volume  III  the  scene  of  action  is  transferred  to  Germany, 
where  the  relatives  of  Therese  Mayflower  are  found.  Her  origin 
is  made  certain  and  she  is  found  to  be  the  granddaughter  of  the 
"Kaferfink".  There  is  a  joyous  reunion  in  America.  Das  Finken 
haus,  while  somewhat  diffuse  in  plot,  is  especially  rich  in  finely  de 
lineated  characters. 

Westliche  Fdhrten.  Erzahlungen  und  Schilderungen.  2  Bde. 
Berlin.  1873. 

The  writer  regrets  that  this  work  is  inaccessible  to  him. 

Die  Einsiedlerinnen.  Roman.  4  Bde.  Berlin.  1873.  The  first 
volume  of  this  novel  appeals  little  to  the  reader.  Its  action  takes 


io8  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

place  on  German  soil  somewhere  along  the  North  Sea,  but  is  rather 
indefinite  and  lacks  color.  We  meet  here  Abel  Hardy,  a  young  sea 
man,  and  Thomas  Ghost.  The  latter,  an  elderly  man  with  a  mys 
terious  past,  finds  while  landing  his  boat,  an  old  sealed  bottle  which 
had  been  carried  thither  by  the  Gulf  Stream.  He  finds  in  it  an  old 
document  placed  there  twenty-eight  years  ago  by  a  certain  Hage- 
mann  who  was  shipwrecked  returning  from  America.  The  document 
tells  of  great  possessions  of  land  on  the  Missouri.  Ghost,  who  was 
formerly  a  slave  pirate,  plying  between  the  U.  S.  and  the  coast  of 
Brazil  now  takes  it  upon  himself  to  play  the  role  of  the  dead 
Hagemann,  go  to  America,  and  claim  the  dead  man's  land.  We 
meet  further  a  certain  eccentric  German  countess,  an  "Einsiedlerin", 
who  long  ago  has  taken  it  upon  herself  to  rear  the  two  descendants 
of  the  dead  Hagemann. 

In  Volume  II  the  action  of  the  story  has  been  transferred  to  the 
banks  of  the  Missouri,  where  the  work  immediately  begins  to  take 
on  a  more  interesting  color.  Here  we  meet  Miss  Lonesome,  an 
elderly  eccentric  woman,  also  an  "Einsiedlerin".  It  is  for  the  two 
old  persons,  the  Countess  and  Miss  Lonesome,  that  the  novel  is 
named.  Miss  Lonesome  was  the  betrothed  of  a  certain  Coldbrook 
who  was  murdered  years  ago  by  the  said  Hagemann  and  robbed 
of  his  possessions.  She  makes  it  her  life-work  to  avenge  her  lover's 
death,  and  has  waited  all  these  years  for  the  return  of  Hagemann. 
Mollhausen  has  here  invented  an  interesting  situation.  Coldbrook 
had  bought  some  land  directly  from  the  government.  Hagemann 
had  taken  the  title  to  this  land  and  slain  Coldbrook,  but  later  never 
appeared  to  lay  claim  to  the  land.  After  a  time  a  few  squatters 
arrived,  a  settlement  grew  up  about  them,  which  finally  came  to  be 
the  flourishing  town  of  Squatterfield.  Ghost,  by  means  of  his  docu 
ments  readily  proves  himself  to  be  Hagemann  and  claims  the  land 
as  well  as  the  property  upon  it.  He  is  naturally  at  once  accused 
of  the  murder  of  Coldbrook  by  Miss  Lonesome,  and  only  with  great 
difficulty  proves  that  he  is  not  really  Hagemann,  whereupon  his 
claims  to  the  land  also  naturally  cease.  Miss  Lonesome,  a  woman 
with  a  keen  sense  of  justice,  then  journeys  to  Germany  and  offers 
the  estate  to  the  proper  heirs  of  Hagemann,  who  have  been  reared 
by  the  old  Countess. 

The  plot  to  be  sure  is  somewhat  bizarre,  and  the  novel  lacks  in 
atmosphere  until  its  action  is  removed  to  America.  Here  on  the 
borders  of  civilization  (it  is  the  time  of  the  Civil  War)  we  have 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  109 

occasion  to  meet  the  interesting  types  of  trappers  and  half-breeds 
who  come  to  the  store  of  Miss  Lonesome  to  sell  or  trade  their 
wares.  Miss  Lonesome  has  a  foster-daughter,  the  half-breed  Indian 
maid  Coralle.  She  is  kidnapped  by  guerrillas ;  we  follow  their 
pursuit  to  the  frontier  farm  of  the  German  Wender  family. 

In  Volume  III  the  author,  speaking  of  the  Indian  of  that  period, 
has  occasion  to  say  of  Longfellow:  "Auch  der  Hiawatha-Gesang 
klingt  lieblich,  bezaubernd ;  begegnet  man  indessen  einem  Trupp 
planlos  umherstreifender  Eingeborenen  und  entsetzlich  bemalter 
Hauptlinge  und  Krieger,  dann  mochte  man  f ragen  woher  Longfellow 
seine  Bilder  nahm,  als  er  den  Hiawatha  dichtete;  aus  der  Wirklich- 
keit  schwerlich." 

Das  Monogramm.  Roman.  4  Bde.  Berlin.  1874.  In  this 
work  Mollhausen  again  unfortunately  steps  out  of  the  sphere  in 
which  he  is  most  successful.  As  a  piece  of  novelistic  art  it  is  of 
little  credit  to  its  author.  It  reflects  the  "Kulturkampfe",  the 
struggles  against  the  ascendency  of  the  Church  in  the  State.  On 
account  of  its  anti- Jesuitic  tendencies  it  brought  considerable  atten 
tion  upon  itself.  It  is  an  invective  against  the  system  of  Jesuitic 
education.  The  church  was  much  displeased  and  had  the  novel 
placed  among  its  Index  librorum  prohibitorum.  In  Miinster  it  was 
burned  upon  the  street. 

The  orphaned  child  Baldrian  Indigo  is  placed  in  a  Jesuitic  semi 
nary  where  he  is  being  prepared  to  become  a  novice  under  the 
severe  but  narrow  training  of  the  Jesuitic  patres.  After  the  child 
becomes  an  adult  the  novel  changes  to  an  "I-Novel",  Baldrian  being 
left  to  tell  his  own  story  in  autobiographic  form.  The  scene  of 
the  first  two  volumes  is  in  Germany,  and,  as  is  usual  with  those 
parts  of  the  author's  novels  not  taking  place  on  American  soil,  rather 
colorless.  Mollhausen  has  taken  for  his  theme  the  well-known : 
Quum  finis  est  licttis,  etiam  media  sunt  licita,  the  words  of  the 
learned  Jesuit  Busenbaum  in  his  Medulla  theologiae  moralis.  Over 
against  the  narrow  mental  training  given  by  the  Jesuits  the  author 
now  places  that  of  his  own  patron,  Alex,  von  Humboldt.  The  teach 
ings  of  this  great  scientist  have  reached  the  ears  of  the  young  stu 
dent  in  the  seminary.  Humboldt  is  called  by  the  Jesuits  in  this 
novel:  "Der  Seelenmorder".  It  is  science  and  Jesuitism  which  are 
at  war  in  the  soul  of  our  hero.  Baldrian  escapes  from  the  theologi 
cal  seminary  at  a  time  when  he  is  about  to  receive  lashes  for  his 
liberal  tendencies.  We  follow  him  to  America  where  he  hopes  to 


no  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

try  his  fortunes.  But  the  long  arm  of  the  Jesuits  has  followed  him 
and  he  is  seized.  He  wakens  to  find  himself  locked  in  a  madhouse, 
from  which  he  manages  finally  to  escape.  At  the  conclusion  of 
this  novel  the  author  offers  a  word  of  explanation :  "Dankbar 
erkenne  ich  an,  einen  wesentlichen  Theil  meiner  Informationen  iiber 
die  Jesuitenerziehung  einem  Werkchen :  Der  Jesuitismus,  treu  nach 
der  Natur  gezeichnet  von  einem  bekehrten  Jesuiten  (Lpz.  1872) 
entnommen  zu  haben.  Einer  gewaltigen,  alle  Schichten  der  Bevol- 
kerung  unwiderstehlich  durchdringenden  Stromung  folgend,  bin  ich 
in  meinen  Schilderungen  mit  riicksichtsloser  Offenheit  zu  Werke 
gegangen.  Ich  scheute  nicht  die  Missbilligung  Derjenigen,  welche 
wirklich  gegeisselt  wurden,  nicht  den  Tadel  Anderer,  welche  sich 
vielleicht  gegeisselt  wahnen." 

Die  Hy'dnen  des  Capitals.  Roman.  4  Bde.  Berlin.  1876.  In  the 
first  two  volumes,  which  take  place  wholly  on  German  soil,  the 
reader  is  informed  of  the  activities  of  the  "Allgemeine  Centrifugal- 
bank  fiir  transatlantische  Colonisation",  an  incorporated  company  of 
apparently  large  dimensions.  This  company  is  in  league  with  men 
in  America  for  the  purpose  of  transporting  Germans  to  Southern 
planters  under  the  pretense  that  favorable  opportunities  await  them 
there.  The  company  pays  the  passage  to  America,  and  gives  the 
immigrants  opportunity  to  pay  off  their  debt  as  redemptioners  in  the 
new  world.  In  reality  these  German  immigrants  are  little  better 
off  than  slaves.  These  speculators  with  human  beings  are  the 
"Hyanen  des  Capitals". 

The  time  of  the  novel  is  shortly  after  the  Civil  War,  after  the 
negroes  had  been  freed,  and  the  planters  saw  no  way  of  making 
their  lands  productive  without  the  necessary  laborers.  It  was  then 
that  the  "Centrifugalbank"  prospered  by  putting  itself  in  league 
with  the  Southern  planters  and  providing  them  with  Germans. 
Several  German  colonies  were  established  in  Louisiana.  A  great 
many  small  capitalists  in  Germany,  reading  the  glowing  accounts 
sent  in  letters  by  the  German  colonists  in  America  (which  letters 
had  been  shamelessly  forged),  were  led  to  invest  in  this  "Centrifu 
galbank"  for  colonization.  Also,  through  this  organization,  many 
poor,  unknowing  "Europamiiden"  were  tempted  to  try  their  for 
tunes  across  the  Atlantic.  In  the  first  two  volumes  we  follow  the 
rise  and  fall  of  the  stocks  in  this  company  and  are  witnesses  to 
the  awful  human  traffic.  The  bank  fails  at  the  close  of  the  second 
volume.  In  the  third  volume  we  are  transferred  to  America,  and 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  in 

the  author  is  again  in  his  proper  sphere.  He  operates  here  with  the 
whole  machinery  of  Southern  life,  planters,  negroes,  and  an  occa 
sional  Indian.  He  paints  for  us  the  wretched  conditions  of  the 
German  colonies  and  the  misery  of  their  members.  Before  the 
war  the  planters  had  strong,  healthy  slaves,  to  make  the  morasses 
and  unhealthful  regions  money-producing.  In  order  to  recover  again 
from  the  great  losses  which  came  with  the  Civil  War,  they  are  em 
ploying  the  German  immigrants,  who,  unused  to  such  work  and  to 
such  a  climate,  soon  fall  victims  to  fevers  and  influenza.  The  hope 
ful  German,  having  been  given  cheap  passage,  and  promised  a  few 
acres  of  land,  is  here  pitifully  deluded  and  falls  a  victim  to  the 
"Hyanen  des  Capitals".  An  episode,  which  the  author  has  also  in 
troduced  in  several  other  novels,  is  that  of  the  Clu  Clux  Clan  with 
its  mysterious  and  murderous  operations.  The  theme  employed 
in  this  work  is  not  an  uninteresting  one,  but  the  author  has  hardly 
used  it  to  his  best  advantage. 

Die  Kinder  dcs  Stra  flings.  Roman.  4  Bde.  Berlin.  1876. 
The  work  partakes  of  the  nature  of  the  criminal  novel.  With  little 
interest  we  follow  through  two  volumes  the  career  of  the  murderer 
Brandbach  who  killed  the  suitor  of  his  wife  in  a  fit  of  jealous 
rage.  After  twenty  years  of  imprisonment  he  is  released  and  goes 
forth,  a  broken  man,  to  begin  life  anew  in  the  new  world.  We  also 
follow  the  careers  of  several  aristocratic  young  army  officers  who, 
living  beyond  their  means,  have  fallen  victims  to  the  merciless  usurer 
Leisegang.  His  adopted  daughter  is  Dora.  The  latter  is  in  reality 
the  daughter  of  the  criminal  Brandbach,  who,  on  being  imprisoned, 
had  left  a  wife  and  two  sons.  His  wife  a  short  time  later  gave 
birth  to  a  daughter.  It  is  this  child  who  was  reared  by  the  usurer 
Leisegang,  in  whose  house  she  has  lived  through  a  wretched  girl 
hood.  Brandbach's  two  sons  had  been  adopted  by  old  Herr  von 
Pfleger  and  are  known  as  Lothar  and  Erich  Kramer.  Erich,  being 
in  heavy  debts  had,  much  to  the  chagrin  of  his  foster-father,  fled  to 
America  where  he  enlisted  in  the  Southern  army.  Brandbach,  alias 
Rivulet,  was  leading  a  lonely  life  in  America  as  a  lackey  in  a 
circus. 

In  the  third  volume  we  see  Erich  Kramer  in  the  difficult  role 
of  a  Southern  spy.  General  Hood  desired  to  attack  General  Sher 
man  but  feared  the  united  forces  of  the  Union  generals,  Thomas  and 
Smith.  If  Hood  succeeded  in  taking  Nashville  first,  Tennessee  and 
Kentucky  would  be  easy  for  him  and  Sherman's  operations  in 


H2  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

Georgia  would  be  paralyzed.  This  plan  was  made  by  President 
Davis  himself.  To  this  difficult  task  Erich  had  offered  himself. 
With  him  is  his  love,  Judith,  the  celebrated  circus  rider. 

Dora,  the  adopted  daughter  of  the  usurer  Leisegang,  her  hus 
band,  Martin,  and  his  sister,  the  widow  Dornbusch,  had  also  come 
to  America  They  have  leased  a  farm  in  Missouri  from  a 
Southerner,  and  are  prospering.  Their  domestic  peace  is,  however, 
disturbed  by  guerrillas  under  the  notorious  Colonel  Bryan,  who  are 
overrunning  the  borderlands,  robbing  the  lonely  settlers,  and  out 
raging  their  wives. 

There  is  also  a  slave  element.  A  few  negroes  have  joined 
forces  with  some  Indians  and  mestizes  and  are  fleeing  to  escape 
persecution,  but  enter  into  combat  with  Colonel  Bryan  and  his 
lawless  band.  Erich  and  Judith,  out  of  humaneness,  are  assisting 
the  slaves,  and  therefore  held  as  Northerners  by  the  guerrillas.  In 
the  struggle  that  follows  Judith  is  killed  and  Erich  is  heavily 
wounded.  The  latter  is  carried  to  the  Martin  farm  where  Rivulet 
has  also  chanced  to  come.  Thus  Dora,  and  Erich,  and  Brandbach 
meet.  Family  revelations  follow.  Dora  and  Erich  are  children  of 
Brandbach.  Thus  the  old  man  at  last  finds  redress  in  his  restored 
children.  Lothar,  the  other  brother,  has  also  been  found,  but 
Dora  and  Erich,  out  of  love  to  him,  never  inform  him  that  he  is 
the  son  of  the  former  criminal.  He  is  left  to  return  to  Germany  to 
be  the  comfort  ,of  his  foster-father's  old  age. 

Der  Reiher.  Roman.  3  Bde.  Berlin.  1878.  This  novel  is 
divided  into  four  books:  i.  Die  Moquis;  2.  Die  Schmuggler; 
3.  Der  Fabrikherr;  4.  Die  Millionare.  On  a  rough  coast  of  Scot 
land  there  was  found  one  day  an  unconscious  sailor  with  a  child  in 
his  arms,  the  only  surviving  persons  of  a  ship  wrecked  near  that 
place.  Near  them  was  found  a  large  chest,  and  upon  it  a  coat  of 
arms  with  the  device  of  a  heron.  The  sailor  knew  that  the  child 
belonged  to  the  family  who  owned  the  chest,  a  wealthy,  aristocratic 
family.  He  had  named  the  child  Billy  Heron,  and  tattooed  upon 
his  upper  right  arm  a  heron  like  the  one  he  had  seen  on  the  chest, 
and  like  that  upon  the  ring  which  he  had  stripped  from  the  finger 
of  the  child's  dead  father.  All  this  had  taken  place  years  before  the 
beginning  of  the  story.  In  the  meantime  Billy  Heron  had  grown  to 
manhood,  married  and  become  a  smuggler.  He  leaves  three  sons 
who  are  scattered  about  the  world,  one  in  western  America,  where 
he  married  and  lives  among  the  Moqui  Indians  in  New  Mexico, 


Balduin  Mollhauscn,  The  German  Cooler  113 

another  remains  in  Scotland,  and  the  third  becomes  a  manufacturer 
in  Germany.  Each  had  been  tattooed  with  the  sign  of  the  heron, 
and  all  had  been  early  instructed  with  the  importance  of  tattooing 
their  children  with  the  same  sign.  This  is  the  complicated  and  yet 
somewhat  conventional  machinery-  which  the  novelist  employs  in  this 
work.  Once  we  are  among  the  Indians  in  New  Mexico,  now 
among  the  smugglers  on  the  coast  of  Scotland,  and  then  again  in 
Germany,  until  through  many  intricacies  the  paths  of  the  herons 
finally  come  together  to  one  nest. 

In  the  first  book  by  far  the  most  interesting  for  color  and  rich 
ness  of  ethnographic  material,  we  meet  the  German  scientist  Hilger, 
who  has  spent  years  studying  the  habits  and  dialects  of  the  North 
American  Indian.  Among  the  Moquis,  the  city-dwellers  of  New 
Mexico,  Hilger  finds  several  Indians  with  blond  hair  and  light  eyes, 
who  bear  the  tattoo  of  the  heron.  He  discovers  that  their  father 
was  a  white  man,  who  had  left  a  testament  written  on  leather.  He 
had  been  a  trapper  and  had  fallen  a  victim  to  a  Hualpi  Indian.  It  was 
Rob  Heron,  the  long  lost  son  of  Billy  Heron.  He  had  gone  west, 
lived  among  the  Moqui  Indians  and  married  a  woman  of  that  tribe. 
Through  the  leathern  document,  Hilger  is  led  to  trace  the  other 
members  of  the  Heron  family.  His  search  leads  him  to  Argyle, 
Scotland.  The  second  book  takes  the  reader  among  the  smugglers 
on  the  coast  of  Scotland ;  the  third  to  Germany,  to  the  manufacturer 
Wilhelm  Heron;  in  the  fourth,  the  scene  is  in  New  York,  where 
the  various  Herons  are  finally  joined. 

Vier  Fragmente.  Roman.  4  Bde.  Berlin.  1880.  It  is  the  story 
of  the  four  idealistic  young  Germans,  Hagen,  Buchhain,  Berndt,  and 
Hellwig.  They  have  come  to  America  as  exiles,  filled  with  those 
enthusiastic  ideas  of  freedom  that  characterize  "Jung  Deutschland". 
One  of  the  four  says  of  themselves :  "Verschiedenen  Wissenschaften 
ergeben,  huldigten  wir  doch  denselben  iiberspannten  Freiheitstraii- 
men,  denen  wir  denn  auch  zugleich  unsere  Landesverweisung — um 
mich  milde  auszudriicken — verdankten.  Vor  vielen  anderen 
Fliichtlingen  erfreuten  wir  uns  des  Vorzuges,  dass  wir  iiber  einige 
Geldmittel  geboten.  In  oft  und  feurig  beschworener  Freundschaft 
zusammenhaltend,  waren  wir  daher  nur  wenig  jenem  niederdriick- 
enden  Gefiihl  der  Vereinsamung  unterworfen,  das  manchen  anderen 
den  Aufenthalt  in  einem  fremden  Lande  verleidet.  Wie  in  der 
Heimat  von  denselben  Ideen  erfitllt,  einigten  wir  uns  auch  auf  dem 
neuen  Kontinent  in  unseren  Planen".  The  hopeful  young  men  came 


H4  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

to  Wisconsin  where  they  bought  a  large  tract  of  land,  covered  with 
splendid  timber.  They  dreamed  of  a  care-free  and  prosperous 
future.  After  some  time  pioneer  life  in  a  primitive  log  hut,  to 
gether  with  the  lack  of  intellectual  stimulus,  grew  wearisome  to  the 
young  enthusiasts.  They  therefore  concluded  to  sell  their  lands. 
They  soon  discovered,  however,  that  this  could  only  be  done  at 
a  great  loss  and  consequently  resolved  to  retain  the  land.  On  the 
last  night  before  their  departure,  effervescent  with  youth  and  wine, 
they  cut  the  land-title  into  four  equal  parts,  divided  them,  and  re 
solved  that  each  follow  his  own  star  for  fifteen  years.  Land  taxes 
had  been  paid  in  advance  for  that  length  of  time.  After  fifteen 
years  they  are  to  reappear,  and  he  who  is  not  there  on  that  day  will 
be  considered  as  dead.  The  author  tells  at  some  length  the  various 
fortunes  that  befell  these  four  comrades  during  that  time.  Hagen 
seeks  his  fortune  among  the  gold  mines  of  California,  thus  giving 
the  author  an  opportunity  of  depicting  life  among  the  miners  and 
in  the  gambling  dens.  Hagen  returns  after  fifteen  years,  possessing 
little  money,  but  having  lost  little  of  his  old  idealism  and  faith 
fulness.  He  is  sad  and  broken  in  spirit,  his  wife  is  dead,  and  his 
only  companion  is  a  step-daughter.  Buchhain,  the  dreamer,  too 
tender  for  wild  life  in  western  America,  has  returned  to  Germany, 
for  which  he  had  developed  an  incurable  homesickness.  Hellwig, 
the  only  one  of  the  four  whom  fortune  had  favored,  had  become  a 
wealthy  southern  tobacco  merchant.  Berndt  had  remained  in  Wis 
consin,  and  in  a  moment  of  weakness  had  sold  all  the  lands  which 
he  and  his  comrades  had  bought  to  a  keen  speculator,  who,  only 
a  short  time  later,  sold  them  to  a  colony  of  settlers  at  a  great 
profit,  Berndt  himself  receiving  very  little.  After  fifteen  years 
Hagen  and  Hellwig  return,  but  Berndt,  stricken  with  remorse  lacks 
the  courage  to  appear  and  soon  after  commits  suicide.  Buchhain, 
dying  in  Germany,  had  left  his  fourth  of  the  title  to  his  son.  A 
designing  brother  of  Buchhain  steals  this  paper  and  comes  to 
America  in  the  hopes  of  claiming  a  large  fortune,  but  is  disappointed. 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  115 


Der  Schatz  von  Quivira.     Roman.    3Bde.     Berlin.     1880. 

The  action  of  the  first  half  of  this  novel  takes  place  along  the 
Rhine  where  we  are  introduced  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  Karmeliter- 
hof,  once  in  the  possession  of  the  scholar  Herr  Rothweil,  who  many 
years  before  emigrated  to  Mexico  and  never  returned  again.  Upon 
his  death  Rothweil's  nephew  Matthias,  called  Perennis  Rothweil,  is  to 
come  to  Santa  Fe  as  heir  to  his  uncle's  possessions.  The  uncle  had 
been  a  passionate  student  of  Mexican  antiquities  and  had  made  a 
great  collection  of  them.  His  home  was  a  store  house  of  precious 
pottery,  idols,  and  so  forth.  His  last  great  endeavors  to  recover  the 
treasures  of  Quivira  had  been  unsuccessful,  and  he  therefore  made  it 
a  condition  of  his  testament  that  his  heir  Perennis  Rothweil  continue 
the  search.  It  is  the  travels  of  Perennis  and  his  investigations  among 
the  Indians  of  New  Mexico,  of  the  terrace  cities  Manzana  and 
Quivira,  and  of  the  inscription  rocks  that  form  the  chief  material  for 
this  work.  Mollhausen  has  gone  back  to  his  own  experience  among 
the  Zuni  Indians,  and  also  woven  into  his  story  a  good  bit  of 
Mexican  history.  The  central  motive  of  the  novel  is  based  on  the 
historical  fact  of  the  burial  of  the  church  treasures  of  the  Spanish 
monks  at  the  time  of  the  Indian  uprisings  against  the  Spaniards  in 
1680.  The  Spanish  document,  telling  of  the  burial  of  the  treasures 
and  giving  the  key  to  their  recovery,  was  published  in  the  Report  of 
the  Smithsonian  Institute  for  1854  which  the  author  gives  in  the 
novel  as  follows :  "Auf  dem  Friedhofe  der  grossen  Parochie-Kirche 
im  Mittelpunkte  der  rechten  Seite  nach  Massgabe  der  Figur  No.  i 
befindet  sich  eine  Vertiefung.  Wenn  man  daselbst  grant,  stosst  man 
auf  zwei  Glocken.  Zieht  man  eine  Linie  iiber  die  Offnungen,  die 
die  zwei  Glocken  zuriick  lassen,  so  erblickt  man  ostlich  der  Strasse 
zwischen  der  Kirche  und  der  Stadt  entlang  in  der  Entfernung  von 
etwa  300  Ellen  einen  Hiigel,  der  mit  den  beiden  Glocken  eine  genaue 
Linie  bildet.  Am  Fusse  dieses  Hiigels  befindet  sich  ein  Keller  von 
zehn  Ellen  oder  mehr  Umfang  und  bedeckt  mit  Steinen,  der  den 
grossen  Schatz  birgt.  Ernannt  durch  Karl  den  Ftinften  von  Gran 
Quivira." 

Die  Tochter  des  Consuls.    Roman.    3  Bde.    Berlin.     1880. 

In  this  work  more  than  in  most  others  Mollhausen  seems  to  have 
given  the  story  first  consideration.     Unlike  so  many  of  the  ethno- 


n6  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

graphic  novels  in  which  the  story  serves  simply  as  a  framework 
whereupon  to  hang  scenery,  customs  and  manners  in  America,  this 
novel  exists  for  the  story  itself,  and  other  elements  occupy  a  subor 
dinate  position.  The  scene  opens  in  Fort  Roupideau  near  the  Scott 
Bluffs.  Fort  Roupideau  is  named  for  the  French  fur-trader  Roupi 
deau,  who  himself  plays  a  conspicuous  role  in  the  first  part  of  the 
novel.  The  Fort  lies  near  the  great  emigrant  route  to  the  California 
gold  fields.  Here  we  learn  to  know  members  of  the  Sioux  and  Daco- 
tah  tribes,  among  whom  are  the  interesting  old  prophetess  Rattel  and 
the  Indian  maid  Lilac,  the  latter  one  of  the  author's  most  charming 
Indian  characters.  Here  too  is  the  young  German  Wenzel  who  came 
to  America  in  his  youth  and  served  in  the  United  States  navy  during 
the  Civil  War.  He  was  dismissed  in  San  Francisco  at  the  close  of 
the  war,  and  is  now  crossing  the  continent  of  the  United  States.  At 
Fort  Roupideau  a  violent  snow-storm  is  depicted.  From  it  are  res 
cued  the  German  Consul  Eichwerder,  his  two  daughters  Agathe  and 
Stephanie  and  their  cousin  Ranndal.  We  follow  them  to  Europe, 
whither  Wenzel  also  later  returns.  The  action  continues  on  North 
German  soil.  Wenzel  is  none  other  than  the  son  of  the  aged  Herr 
von  Schroda,  whose  only  son,  when  a  child  of  three,  had  disappeared, 
and  was  thought  to  have  been  drowned.  In  reality  it  had  been  ab 
ducted  by  an  old  lover  of  Frau  von  Schroda,  and  brought  to  America 
out  of  revenge.  The  restoration  of  Wenzel  as  the  long  lost  child  of 
Herr  von  Schroda  and  his  love  for  Agathe,  the  consul's  daughter, 
rorm  the  chief  material  for  the  further  action  of  the  novel.  At  the 
close  we  are  once  more  taken  to  Fort  Roupideau  and  witness  the 
death  of  Lilac,  the  beautiful  child  of  nature,  whose  yearning  love  for 
the  handsome  German  Wenzel  brings  her  to  the  grave. 

Der  Fanatiker.    Roman.    3  Bde.    Berlin.     1883. 

This  novel  is  dedicated  to  Friedrich  Karl  of  Prussia.  Upon 
his  gracious  invitation  Mollhausen  had  accompanied  the  Prince  upon 
his  northern  cruise  in  1879.  It  is  this  journey  which  stimulated 
Mollhausen  in  this  novel.  In  his  dedication  he  writes :  "Angesichts 
der  wunderbaren,  gleichsam  beangstigenden  Natur  schdnheiten 
verfluchtigte  sich  meine  urspriingliche  Absicht,  die  zaubrische  Nord- 
landsfahrt  in  Form  von  Reiseberichten  der  Offentlichkeit  zu  iiber- 
geben.  Es  keimte  dagegen  der  Plan,  die  iiberwaltigenden  Eindriicke, 
nach  Art  meiner  iiberseeischen  Erzahlungen,  die  von  meinen  Reise- 


Balduin  Afollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  117 

werken  streng  geschieden,  in  eine  umfangreichere  Arbeit  xu  vcr- 
flechten." 

Mollhausen  has  taken  for  his  theme  the  activities  of  the  Mor 
mons  in  gaining  proselytes  among  the  inhabitants  of  Scandinavia. 
He  brings  into  sharp  contrast  the  rugged  seacoast  and  verdant 
mountains  of  Norway  with  the  arid  wastes  of  Utah.  The  scene 
opens  in  the  valley  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake.  The  author  with  admir 
able  skill  conveys  to  his  readers  the  awful  grandeur  of  the  desert. 
The  story  turns  about  Brandvold,  a  Norwegian,  whose  fanatic  ardor 
to  further  the  cause  of  Mormonism  leads  him  to  extravagant  and 
criminal  deeds.  He  journeys  to  Norway  and  after  a  period  of  suc 
cessful  proselyting  along  its  rocky  fjords,  returns  again  to  America 
with  a  ship  load  of  converts.  Brandvold's  daughter  Helga  is  in 
love  with  Olaf  Ornesen,  a  young  Norwegian,  who  has  sought  in  vain 
to  attain  a  fortune  in  Western  America.  Brandvold,  however,  has 
designed  that  she  shall  become  one  of  the  many  wives  of  a  Mormon 
apostle.  Karen,  the  sister  of  Helga's  dead  mother,  is  a  better  oppon 
ent  of  Mormonism,  and  through  the  aid  of  the  old  trapper  whose 
life  Karen  had  saved  from  some  Mormons  who  had  planned  to  kill 
him,  manages  to  escape  to  the  eastern  states  and  later  returns  to 
Norway.  The  franatic  Brandvold  entertains  similar  ideas  to  those 
set  forth  in  Das  Mono  gram  m,  namely,  that  the  end  justifies  the 
means.  Mollhausen  gives  considerable  attention  to  the  critical  rela 
tions  which  had  existed  between  the  Mormons  and  the  U.  S.  govern 
ment,  thus  giving  the  novel  a  slightly  historical  background.  The 
author  is  unusually  successful  with  the  handling  of  the  Scandinavian 
atmosphere.  Thorbjorn,  the  old  pilot  and  Barbro,  the  aged  Norwe 
gian  woman  who  harbors  Olaf  and  sings  old  bardic  lays  to  a  North 
ern  instrument  are  finely  delineated  characters. 

Der  Leuchtturm  am  Michigan  nnd  andere  F.rziihlungen.  Stutt 
gart.  1883. 

This  little  volume  consists  of  three  tales  presenting  interesting 
phases  of  American  life  namely:  Der  Leuchtturm  am  Michigan; 
Die  Auswanderin;  and  Das  Squattermadchen. 

Der  Leuchtturm  am  Michigan,  one  of  the  author's  most  popular 
short  narratives,  is  full  of  the  charm  of  the  forest  when  civilization 
had  as  yet  hardly  broken  in  upon  its  quiet  grandeur.  The  keeper  of 
the  lighthouse,  Cartridge,  an  old  sergeant  in  the  uniform  of  a 
United  States  infantry,  his  niece  Charitas,  a  genuine  child  of  nature, 


n8  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

her  lover  Frank,  a  young  seaman  on  the  old  steamer  "Konigin  des 
Westens"  plying  on  Lake  Michigan,  and  the  pedlar  Parker,  also 
suing  for  the  hand  of  Charitas,  a  few  redskins  of  the  Chippewa  tribe, 
are  the  figures  that  pass  before  us. 

In  Die  Auswanderin  the  reader  is  made  to  see  the  wretched 
conditions  prevailing  among  the  steerage  passengers  of  an  emigrant 
vessel.  The  time  of  the  story  is  shortly  after  the  Civil  War.  It  re 
lates  the  adventures  of  a  young  German  immigrant  girl.  Her  father 
had  died  upon  the  voyage,  and  she  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  a 
white  slave  agent.  She  was  drugged  in  New  Orleans  and  about 
to  be  sent  to  Havana,  when  rescued  by  her  early  German  lover 
Rschwetler. 

"Das  Squattennadchen"  is  Jesse,  the  Amazon-like  daughter  of  the 
squatter  Wendworth.  Abraham  Wendworth  had  settled  in  Missouri 
at  a  time  when  land  was  still  free.  A  certain  Blair  had  purchased 
land  from  the  United  States  government,  and  surveyors  have  come 
to  measure  off  this  purchase.  It  is  found  that  the  farm  of  Wend 
worth,  and  those  of  a  number  of  other  squatters  are  on  the  land 
purchased  by  Blair.  They  are  about  to  be  driven  from  their  homes. 
This  is  a  motive  the  author  has  employed  several  times. 


Der  Haitshofmeister.    Roman.    3  Bde.    Jena.     1884. 

One  critic,  in  writing  of  Mollhausen,  has  said :  On  revient  tou- 
jours  a  ses  premiers  amours.  In  Der  Haushofmeister  the  novelist 
resorts  10  a  machinery  he  frequently  employs.  The  novel  opens 
with  a  death  and  the  reading  of  the  will  of  the  deceased.  In  this 
will  certain  conditions  are  set  which  can  only  be  fulfilled  years 
later.  Mollhausen  immediately  takes  advantage  of  this  interim  in 
order  to  take  his  principal  characters  to  distant  climes,  thus  affording 
him  an  opportunity  to  weave  into  his  story  the  exotic  material  of 
the  western  world  with  which  he  is  so  well  acquainted.  This  mode 
of  procedure  may,  from  an  esthetic  standpoint,  be  looked  upon  as 
a  weakness,  and  yet  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  this  technic 
permits  the  unrolling  of  a  larger  cultural  panorama  (and  it  is  the 
cultural  trait  that  largely  distinguishes  the  exotic  novel),  than  one 
which  regards  more  severely  the  unity  of  time. 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  119 

Die  Traders.     Roman.     3  Bde.     Berlin.     1884. 

Here  the  novelist  again  operates  with  American  material  which 
lay  beyond  his  own  personal  experience.  The  novel  opens  with  the 
battle  of  Richmond  (June  26  to  July  2,  1862).  On  the  battle  field, 
among  the  many  dead,  lies  a  young  German  mortally  wounded  and 
suffering  untold  pain.  He  begs  a  young  Union  officer  riding  by  to 
relieve  him  from  his  sufferings  by  shooting  him,  after  which  he  is 
to  go  along  the  banks  of  the  James  where  he  will  meet  his  young 
wife  and  child  and  bring  them  his  greetings  and  blessings.  The 
officer  is  at  first  unwilling  but  upon  the  pitiful  entreaties  of  the 
suffering  soldier  he  can  no  longer  withstand,  takes  his  revolver  and 
puts  an  end  to  the  German's  life.  Through  the  kindness  of  the 
Methodist  Queer,  a  finely  drawn  character,  the  young  wife  had  been 
cared  for,  and  means  provided  for  her  and  her  child  to  return  to 
Germany,  before  the  officer  succeeded  in  finding  her.  Fifteen  years 
pass.  We  find  ourselves  upon  an  emigrant  ship  bound  for  America. 
Among  the  passengers  are  the  members  of  Sebastian  Winsel's  or 
chestra.  Among  them  is  a  young  lady  violinist  called  Roswitha 
Winsel.  The  description  of  steerage  quarters  and  the  emigrants  is 
good.  Winsel  and  his  orchestra  join  a  circus  and  we  meet  them  later 
in  a  town  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi.  Colonel  Kirkwall,  the 
Union  officer,  has  been  seized  with  relentless  remorse  for  killing  the 
German  soldier.  He  makes  it  his  aim  in  life  to  find  the  wife  and 
child  of  the  soldier,  and  spares  neither  patience  nor  money  to  find 
them.  We  follow  Winsel  and  his  orchestra  on  their  routes.  Winsel 
is  in  league  with  a  certain  white  slave  dealer,  and  is  trying  to  sell 
him  the  innocent  Roswitha.  With  the  aid  of  two  fellow  musicians 
she  escapes  and  after  many  hardships  arrives  in  New  Mexico  where 
she  finds  refuge  in  a  hazienda,  the  home  of  an  old  Spanish  family. 
We  now  move  in  a  Spanish  element  and  meet  the  characters  who 
carry  on  intercourse  between  North  and  South  as  traders.  It  is  to 
them,  though  not  the  most  conspicuous  characters,  that  the  novel 
owes  its  name.  Roswitha  Winsel  has  now  taken  on  her  genuine 
name,  Charlotte  Hagenberg.  She  is  none  other  than  the  daughter  of 
the  German  soldier  who  had  been  a  carpenter  before  the  war. 
Through  the  traders  the  colonel  finds  out  the  whereabouts  of  Char 
lotte,  and  takes  her  as  his  foster-daughter. 

A  subsidiary  story  is  that  of  the  daughter  of  Senora  Herera, 
the  mistress  of  the  hazienda  where  Charlotte  had  found  refuge.  The 


I2O  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

daughter  had  many  years  ago  been  stolen  by  Kioway  Indians.  The 
Kioways  are  later  overcome  and  Tai-oto  is  taken  from  them.  On 
being  called  "Helena"  by  her  mother  a  touching  recognition  scene 
takes  place. 

Interesting  elements  in  this  novel  are  trading  between  northern 
and  southern  states,  Spanish  life  at  the  hazienda,  fandangos,  horse 
thieving,  white  slave  traffic,  and  Indian  attacks. 

Wildes  Bint.     Erzahlung.    3  Bde.    Jena.     1886. 

In  this  novel  the  story  is  everything,  and  the  descriptive  and 
ethnographic  take  a  subsidiary  place.  A  considerable  part  of  the 
action  takes  place  in  North  Germany  among  the  coast  smugglers, 
who,  however,  have  very  little  to  do  with  the  later  development  of 
the  story.  Here  we  learn  to  know  Florence  Blenfeld,  "Junker  Flor- 
entin"  as  she  is  called,  on  account  of  her  rather  robust  manners. 
It  is  she  around  whom  the  interest  of  the  novel  centres.  Blenfeld, 
a  German,  had  emigrated  to  America,  and  married  there  a  half-breed 
Indian  maid,  the  daughter  of  a  certain  Barnard  and  a  Kaskaskia 
woman.  Blenfeld's  daughter  Florence  was  reared  in  Germany.  Up 
on  the  death  of  Barnard's  Indian  wife  he  married  a  Southern  woman, 
who  now  contests  the  estate  of  her  husband  in  the  interests  of  her 
granddaughter  Grace,  against  Florence  Blenfeld.  Grace  Barnard's 
mother  had  been  a  Northerner,  who,  dying,  expressed  a  wish  that 
her  daughter  might  grow  up  in  the  north.  The  child  was  consigned 
to  the  faithful  negro  slave  Tiptoe  who  manages  to  escape  to  the 
North.  Grace  and  Tipoe  suggest  Eva  and  Uncle  Tom.  On  the  way 
they  are  joined  by  a  German  named  Walkort,  who  had  fought  in  the 
ranks  of  the  North.  His  escape  and  flight  from  the  southern  prison 
at  Andersonville  are  vividly  described.  The  trio  finally  reached  the 
estate  of  Lady  Liberty  Barnard,  the  great  grandmother  of  Grace 
Barnard  and  Florence  Blenfeld.  She  lives  in  western  Missouri,  and 
is  one  of  the  pioneers  in  that  still  sparsely  settled  region.  In  Lady 
Liberty,  with  her  sturdy  character  and  almost  austere  habits,  Moll 
hausen  has  portrayed  a  distinct  product  of  early  pioneer  days  in  the 
West  She  knows  no  race  distinctions.  In  her  estimation  her  great 
granddaughters,  Florence  Blenfeld  and  Grace  Barnard,  are  equally 
entitled  to  the  contested  fortune,  even  though  the  former,  "Das  Wil 
de  Blut,"  is  of  Indian  origin.  The  Indian  element  in  this  novel  is 
rather  slight,  and  introduced  solely  to  prove  that  Florence  Blenfeld's 
Indian  grandmother  was  legally  married.  A  document  to  that  effect 
is  found  in  the  bag  of  the  great  medicine-man  Towaka  Koti. 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  121 

Das  Loggbuch  dcs  Kafiitains  Eisenfinger.  Roman  in  3  Bdn. 
Stuttgart.  1887. 

This  novel  received  the  commendation  of  critics  for  the  splen 
did  bits  of  sea-life  which  it  contains.  The  descriptions  in  this  work 
were  pronounced  as  "gewaltige,  grossartige,  zum  Teil  hinreissend 
schon  geschriebene  Schilderungen."  The  story  revolves  about  the 
grumpy  old  bachelor  Barnabas  Rostig,  known  as  Kapitain  Eisen 
finger,  with  an  iron  hook  for  a  left  hand.  Though  now  living  a 
secluded  life  his  variegated  past  continues  to  make  him  the  central 
figure  of  the  story.  He  says  little  but  confides  his  most  secret 
thoughts  to  a  diary,  which  as  an  old  seaman  he  calls  his  log-book. 
While  in  California  long  years  ago,  he  had,  upon  the  death  of  a 
friend,  become  heir  to  a  great  treasure  of  gold,  to  which  he  only  had 
partial  access,  the  rest  remaining  securely  hidden.  One  part  of  that 
legacy  he  had  in  hand  was  devoted  to  the  building  of  a  small  home 
for  seamen  and  to  the  assistance  of  such  unfortunate  seamen  as 
had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  sharpers  and  unscrupulous  agents  on 
the  wharves ;  another  part  to  the  discovery  of  the  two  children  of 
a  faithful  shipmate  Andreas  Kramer,  who  dying,  had  begged  him 
to  care  for  his  offspring.  Eisenfinger  succeeds  in  finding  Kramer's 
two  daughters.  Juliane,  the  older,  had  through  poverty  and  distress, 
already  entered  upon  a  life  of  shame  among  the  seamen,  and  came 
to  an  early  grave.  The  faithful  friendship  of  the  sailor  Martin  for 
this  unfortunate  girl  is  a  beautiful  episode.  The  younger  daughter 
Priscilla  is  brought  up  in  the  parsonage  of  Eisenfinger's  brother 
Nathanael.  Her  future  is  also  endangered  by  the  love  of  young 
Demetrius  von  Kohlgart,  the  son  of  a  wealthy  merchant.  Kapitain 
Eisenfinger  therefore  takes  her  into  his  own  home,  for  he  knows 
that  the  parents  of  Demetrius  will  never  grant  a  union  with  this  hum 
ble  girl.  Demetrius  flees  the  restraints  of  the  parental  roof  and 
goes  to  sea.  His  father  is  stricken  with  heart  disease  and  at  the 
same  time  is  in  great  danger  of  bankruptcy.  Eisenfinger  now  be 
comes  the  decisive  actor.  He  finds  Demetrius  a  young  man  of  wor 
thy  and  noble  character  and  engages  his  aid  in  gaining  possession  of 
his  hidden  treasure  in  California.  Their  experiences  in  the  Far  West 
among  mountains  and  in  the  deserts,  together  with  descriptions  of 
natural  scenery  there,  form  very  attractive  reading.  Through  the 
captain's  assistance,  Priscilla  and  Demetrius  are  finally  happily 


122  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

united.  Into  this  story  are  woven  a  great  many  episodes  out  of  Eis- 
enfinger's  life  which  appear  in  the  "Loggbuch",  his  diary  into  which 
he  had  minutely  written  the  adventures  and  experiences  of  his  inter 
esting  past. 

Die  Familie  Melville.  Roman  aus  der  Zeit  des  nordamerikan- 
ischen  Biirgerkrieges.  3  Bde.  Leipzig.  1889. 

This  novel,  unlike  most  of  Mollhausen's  later  works,  takes  place 
wholly  on  American  soil.  The  scene  opens  at  the  Dardanelle  Rocks, 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas.  It 
is  late  in  the  summer  of  1861.  In  this  work  we  witness  the  mis 
fortunes  of  a  Southern  family  and  its  disintegration  through  war 
and  internal  strife.  Old  Colonel  Melville  of  the  Southern  Army  and 
his  daughter  Marianne  have  sought  a  meeting  with  the  latter's  hus 
band,  Captain  Charles  Stockton,  who  is  in  the  army  of  the  North. 
Marianne,  a  loyal  daughter  of  the  South,  chooses  to  take  her  chil 
dren  and  stay  with  her  father.  At  this  meeting  they  attempt  once 
more  to  persuade  Captain  Stockton  to  the  cause  of  the  South,  but 
in  vain.  Colonel  Melville's  son  Gilbert  is  in  the  Southern  army, 
and  at  that  time  cruising  along  the  coast.  His  wife  Edith,  of  German 
descent,  is  accused  of  having  divulged  secrets  of  the  Southern  Army 
to  a  Unionist  woman.  She  was  in  consequence  banished  from  the 
family  and  left  to  wander  with  her  infant.  Gregor  Melville,  a  boy 
of  seventeen,  and  nephew  of  the  Colonel,  had  espoused  the  cause  of 
the  North  and  run  away.  He  later  meets  Edith  and  nobly  takes 
care  of  her.  While  on  their  way  across  the  plains  to  the  Far  West 
Edith  dies  and  leaves  Gregor  alone  with  her  small  daughter  Thus- 
nelda.  He  continues  on  his  way  to  California.  On  the  way  he  meets 
an  unfortunate  Chinaman  who  had  been  mercilessly  robbed  of  his 
money  and  left  on  the  plains.  Tsung-Tsang  accompanies  Gregor 
and  later  in  California  becomes  a  devoted  member  of  his  household. 

In  Chapter  VI  is  reflected  the  attack  of  Vicksburg  under  Gen 
eral  Grant  in  July,  1863.  Colonel  Melville  is  heavily  wounded 
and  dies.  Also  Mollhausen  depicts  in  vivid  fashion,  full  of  the 
atmosphere  of  the  sea,  a  stirring  naval  battle  off  the  coast  of  Florida 
between  the  "Sea-urchin"  under  the  command  of  Gilbert  Melville 
and  several  Union  vessels. 

Gregor,  with  the  child  Thusnelda,  and  Tsung-Tsang  have  settled 
on  a  ranch  between  the  Sierra  Nevadas  and  the  California  coast- 


Balduin  Mb'llhausen,  The  German  Cooper  123 

hills.     Descriptions  of  the  ranch  and  the  taming  of  broncos  add 
local  color. 

Eighteen  years  have  elapsed.  We  return  to  the  Melville  planta 
tion  in  the  South,  all  is  in  sad  decay.  The  author,  in  elegiac  vein, 
reflects  the  glory  of  the  days  before  the  war.  Aunt  Sarah  Melville 
a  sister  of  the  Colonel,  an  embittered  old  spinster  who  continues  to 
be  an  ardent  Secessionist,  still  dwells  here;  also  Pompejus  and 
Dina,  two  old  negroes,  formerly  slaves,  hang  about  the  plantation 
for  want  of  something  better  to  do.  During  the  war  Stockton  has 
lost  all  traces  of  his  wife  Marianne  and  children.  To  bring  these 
various  members  of  this  so  disunited  Southern  family  together  again, 
to  restore  to  them  the  old  mansion  and  bring  prosperity  upon  them 
once  more  is  the  task  the  novelist  has  set  for  himself. 

Das  Geheimnis  des  Hulks.    Roman.     Stuttgart.     1889. 

This  short  novel  is  rather  baroque  in  character  and  weak  in  plot. 
It  is,  however,  full  of  good  pictures  of  life  as  it  was  in  the  early  days 
of  California,  and  exhibits  the  author's  intimate  knowledge  of  sea- 
life.  The  principal  characters  are  Peter  Strapp,  an  old  crippled 
seaman  who  has  settled  in  San  Francisco  and  is  known  there  as 
"Dutch  Devil";  Lehnhard,  a  young  German  sailor,  who  is  for  the 
time  tarrying  in  the  town ;  Lin,  a  little  Chinaman,  suffering  the  dis 
dain  of  his  white  fellows;  and  the  girl  known  as  "Schwarze  Mar 
garita"  and  her  mother  who  live  in  the  hulk  of  a  partly  sunken  ship 
in  the  bay.  The  mother  never  leaves  the  hulk,  and  the  daughter  only 
to  get  provisions  or  to  visit  Strapp,  an  old  friend,  who  stood  by 
them  when  the  father  Lorenzo,  a  great  gambler  in  San  Francisco, 
was  shot  for  cheating.  Lorenzo  had  been  carried  out  of  the  den 
as  dead,  having  a  bullet  in  his  head.  Unknown  to  any  but  his 
gambling  pals,  he  recovered  in  the  mountains,  but  was  ever  after 
wards  insane.  The  gang,  tiring  of  having  him  on  their  hands, 
returned  him  to  his  wife  and  daughter,  who  then  occupy  the  hulk  of 
the  ship  in  order  to  keep  secret  the  fact  that  Lorenzo  is  still  alive. 
Young  Lehnhard,  who  is  suing  for  Margarita's  hand,  is  through 
Blane,  a  rival,  lured  into  one  of  the  gambling  dens,  where  he  is 
drugged  with  the  intention  of  having  him  placed  upon  a  United 
States  navy  vessel  lying  in  the  Bay.  At  that  time  seamen  were  being 
impressed  for  the  navy.  Through  the  intervention  of  Lin,  the  China 
man,  Lehnhard  escapes  and  hides  with  the  Lorenzo  family  in  the 
hulk.  Here  he  rescues  the  women  from  a  midnight  attack  by  the 


124  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

gambler  Blane,  and  later  wins  the  hand  of  Margarita.  "Dutch 
Devil,"  an  attractive  character,  always  speaks  in  terms  of  the  sea,  no 
matter  what  the  subject.  Of  Margarita  he  says :  "1st  sie  doch  be- 
baut  wie  eine  Lustyacht,  aufgetakelt  so  stolz  wie  eine  Fregatte,  und 
flink  und  beweglich  wie  ein  amerikanischer  Klipper." 

Der  Fdhrmann  am  Kanadian.    Roman  in  3  Bdn.  Stuttgart.   1890. 

This  is  the  story  of  Baron  von  Scherben,  who,  after  a  life  of  dis 
sipation,  has  lost  his  money  and  ruined  his  family.  He  is  imprisoned, 
but  in  cooperation  with  a  friendly  doctor,  feigns  sickness  and  final 
death.  On  the  assertion  of  the  doctor  to  the  authorities  that  the 
disease  is  very  contagious,  the  doctor  removes  him,  apparently  for 
burial,  but  in  reality  to  get  him  out  of  prison  and  secure  freedom  for 
him.  The  Baron  escapes  to  America  where  he  settles  about  twenty 
miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Canadian  river  and  there  operates  a 
ferry.  He  is  henceforth  known  as  "Charon"  or  "Der  Fahrmann  am 
Kanadian".  That  part  of  the  novel  which  interests  us  most  is  that 
whose  action  is  on  American  soil.  Here  we  meet  a  number  of  Ger 
mans  who  are  seeking  their  fortunes  in  America  after  financial  or 
moral  failure  in  Germany.  Here  in  the  freedom  of  Western  Amer 
ica,  surrounded  by  wholesome,  primitive  nature,  some,  through  per 
severance  and  courage,  again  attain  moral  strength ;  others  only 
develop  in  that  villainy  which  was  hampered  by  the  rigid  laws  at 
home.  Among  the  latter  is  the  German  Galle,  an  old  enemy  of  Baron 
von  Scherben.  He  tracks  the  Baron  (now  Charon)  and  tries  to 
destroy  his  honest  efforts  by  threatening  to  reveal  his  degenerate 
past.  In  spite  of  these  hostilities  Charon  lives  a  long  and  honest 
life  as  ferryman  on  the  Canadian  and  is  at  the  end  restored  to  his 
brother  and  to  his  daughter  now  grown  to  womanhood. 

Haus  Montague.    Roman.    3  Bde.    Jena.     1891. 

The  hero  of  this  novel  is  a  scion  of  the  old  commercial  family 
Montague.  For  some  family  crime,  not  very  definitely  explained 
in  the  exposition,  the  child,  soon  after  its  birth,  was  robbed  of  its 
rights  and  sent  to  New  York  to  be  reared  there  by  an  Irish  drunkard 
O'Neil.  The  first  is  the  best  part  of  this  novel.  The  little  hero,  nick 
named  "Kohlmeise",  the  Irish  rascal  O'Neil,  and  the  old  taxider 
mist,  who  gives  little  "Kohlmeise"  employment,  are  portrayed  in 
the  novelist's  animated  and  characteristic  fashion.  In  plot  the 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  125 

author  is  unfortunate.  The  boy's  abduction  to  a  lonely  point  on  the 
Norwegian  coast,  where  he  grows  to  an  adult,  seems  to  have  taken 
place  for  no  other  reason  than  to  give  the  author  an  opportunity  to 
describe  those  scenes  with  which  he  had  become  acquainted  on  his 
travels  to  Scandinavia  with  Prince  Friedrich  Karl.  Once  the  reader 
finds  himself  in  New  York,  now  in  Norway,  and  then  in  tropical 
Mexico,  with  no  sufficient  inner  motivation  for  such  great  geogra 
phical  leaps.  The  bizarre  and  diffuse  nature  of  the  plot  is  partly 
concealed  by  the  novelist's  splendid  descriptions  of  nature  and  fine 
character  portrayals. 

Die  bciden  Yachten.  Roman  in  3  Bdn.    Stuttgart.     1891. 

This  is  one  of  Mollhausen's  masterful  sea-tales.  The  plot  itself 
is  somewhat  fanciful.  The  rich  Countess  Marley  of  Marleyhouse, 
an  eccentric  individual,  possesses  a  yacht  upon  which  she  dwells 
and  sails  from  one  part  of  the  globe  to  another.  The  Countess  had 
once  been  the  plain  daughter  of  an  English  pastor.  She  had  been  the 
friend  and  companion  of  old  Count  Marley  and  upon  his  death  be 
came  heir  to  his  wealth  and  title.  A  relative  of  the  Count,  who  was 
thus  deprived  of  a  fortune,  now  sets  out  to  prove  that  the  eccentric 
Countess  is  insane,  and  to  that  end  pursues  her  on  another  yacht, 
accompanied  by  doctor  and  lawyer.  Her  apparent  eccentricities  are 
explained  when  we  learn  that  the  fiance  of  her  youth,  an  English 
captain  from  Hull,  fell  a  victim  to  mutineers,  and  was  buried  on  the 
lonely  Aurora  islands,  south  of  Patagonia.  The  Countess'  sense  of 
justice  and  the  desire  that  the  evil-doers  shall  be  punished,  lead  her 
to  follow  out  the  paths  of  the  mutineers,  and  to  bring  them  before 
justice.  Thus  the  author  has  built  his  plot  for  the  introduction  of 
the  exotic  element.  Once  we  find  ourselves  on  lonely  islands  in  the 
South  Atlantic ;  then  among  the  low  saloons  in  New  York,  where  we 
get  a  glimpse  of  the  lowest  strata  of  American  life;  and  then  again 
we  are  taken  to  the  fjords  of  Norway,  among  the  fishermen  there. 
Here  the  novelist  has  probably  spent  his  most  artistic  efforts.  It  is 
along  Lake  Pontchartrain  in  Louisiana  that  the  Countess  at  last 
avenges  the  death  of  her  youthful  lover  and  that  justice  is  meted  out. 
This  is  one  of  the  author's  few  works  in  which  he  does  not  operate 
with  any  German  characters. 


126  Baldwin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

Die  Soldlinge.     Roman  in  3  Bdn.     Stuttgart.     1892. 

A  part  of  the  action  of  this  novel  takes  place  in  Germany,  but 
the  larger  part  in  America.  Erasmus  Flieder,  a  modeler  in  wax. 
has  for  years  travelled  about  the  country  exhibiting  a  museum  of 
wax  figures.  Many  years  ago  his  wife  had  borne  him  a  son.  At 
the  same  time  the  daughter  of  an  aristocratic  family  had  given  birth 
to  a  son  out  of  marriage.  To  rescue  her  good  name  this  child  was 
secretly  placed  under  the  care  of  Frau  Flieder.  The  two  children 
were  known  to  the  world  at  large  as  the  twin  sons  of  the  Flieders. 
Later  Baron  von  Rottheim  endeavored  to  reclaim  the  son  of  noble 
birth.  The  relatives  of  the  Baron,  not  eager  to  have  another  heir  up 
on  the  scene,  plotted  with  Frau  Flieder  to  return  to  the  Baron  the  son 
of  the  Flieders  instead.  However,  at  the  last  moment  the  motherly 
instincts  of  Frau  Flieder  prevail,  and  she  secretly  gives  the  right  child 
leaving  the  relatives  to  believe  that  the  Baron  was  rearing  her  own 
child.  The  problem  given  is  the  restoration  of  these  children  to  their 
lawful  parents  before  the  eyes  of  the  world.  The  novel  opens  when 
both  sons  have  grown  to  manhood.  The  interest  in  the  plot  is  en 
hanced  by  the  attractive  American  element  woven  into  it.  Herr 
Riidiger  von  Rottheim  and  Roland  Flieder  have  both  separately  gone 
to  the  United  States.  Roland,  having  been  given  an  excellent  edu 
cation,  has  grown  proud  and  disdains  his  humble  parentage ;  Riidiger, 
on  the  other  hand,  a  true  nobleman,  having  heard  that  he  is  not 
really  the  grandchild  of  the  Baron,  is  too  proud  longer  to  receive 
support  from  him.  By  chance,  both  young  men,  unknown  to  each 
other,  serve  as  volunteers  in  the  same  company  of  the  United  States 
Army.  The  company  is  on  an  expedition  to  the  still  little  explored 
region  between  the  Colorado  and  the  so-called  "Little  Colorado" 
in  New  Mexico.  An  old  trapper  is  leading  the  expedition.  This 
company  consisted  of  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men,  of  which  a 
great  number  were  Irish  and  German.  Among  the  latter  is  the  stu 
dent  Roger,  the  son  of  a  country  parson,  who  after  six  semesters 
at  a  German  University,  became  entangled  in  the  revolutionary  up 
risings,  was  imprisoned,  but  escapes  through  the  aid  of  a  friend, 
and  flees  to  America.  Another  is  Gottfried  Hauer,  a  young  North 
German,  who,  being  accused  of  smuggling,  and  who  having  severely 
wounded  a  rival  suitor  for  the  hand  of  a  maiden,  also  flees  to  Amer 
ica.  One  night  several  mules  belonging  to  the  company  had  been 
lost,  and  the  proud  American  lieutenant,  having  little  affection  for 
the  "Dutchman",  selected  the  above  four  to  retrace  their  steps  alone 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  127 

through  the  wilderness  filled  with  hostile  Indians  in  search  for  the 
mules.  These  four  Germans,  so  different  in  character,  on  their  way 
unanimously  agree  to  desert.  We  now  follow  these  four  deserters 
in  their  adventures.  The  novelist  does  not  fail  to  grasp  the  oppor 
tunity  of  presenting  to  the  readers  splendid  descriptions  of  the  re 
gions  which  he  knows  so  well,  for  it  is  to  a  great  extent  these 
descriptions  which  have  won  and  fascinated  his  readers  for  so  many 
years.  We  follow  the  four  deserters  through  Western  Mountains, 
among  the  city-building  Indians  of  New  Mexico,  and  to  Spanish 
haziendas.  On  the  way  they  fall  in  with  the  retinue  of  Don  Enrique 
de  Guapamente,  the  famous  bull-fighter  from  the  state,  of  Chihua 
hua,  and  they  are  asked  to  strengthen  his  body-guard  against  robbers 
and  Indians.  A  romance  develops  between  Roger  and  Isabel,  the 
daughter  of  Don  Enrique,  which  ends  in  marriage.  Mollhausen  has 
introduced  considerable  material  concerning  the  relations  of  the 
Zuni  Indians  with  the  Azteks  and  Tolteks.  He  writes  at  length 
about  Ahuitzotl,  the  aged  Zuni,  king  of  Anahuac,  the  last  of  the 
Azteks,  who  dwells  in  his  grotto  in  the  Casas  Grandes  in  New 
Mexico,  and  guards  there  the  grotesque  war-god,  a  monster  made 
of  precious  stones.  The  novelist  traces  out  the  life-thread  of  the 
above  four  young  Germans,  and  after  their  many  adventures,  restores 
them  again  to  their  families  in  Germany. 

Kaptein  Meerrose  mid  ihre  Kinder.  Erzahlung  in  3  Bdn.  Ber 
lin.  1893. 

This  breezy  sea-tale  received  warm  praises  from  the  critics  and 
went  toward  placing  Mollhausen  among  the  very  few  good  novelists 
of  the  sea,  and  a  worthy  successor  of  the  once  popular  Heinrich 
Smidt.  The  novelist  shows  himself  thoroughly  acquainted  with  life 
at  sea.  With  his  ability  to  interpret  nature  poetically  he  has  painted 
the  sea  with  much  beauty  and  filled  this  tale  with  a  genuine  salt-sea 
atmosphere.  The  novel  opens  with  an  exciting  attack  of  pirates 
upon  the  "Kormoran"  in  the  China  Sea.  The  "Kormoran"  is  under 
the  command  of  Captain  Frank ;  with  him  is  his  wife,  known  among 
seamen  as  "Die  Meerrose".  Captain  Frank  has  through  tribulations 
failed  in  health  and  become  weakminded.  His  wife  therefore  took 
command  of  the  ship  and  for  years  has  plied  the  seas  successfully. 
She  is  everywhere  hailed  and  honored  as  "Kaptein  Meerrose".  She 
is  the  central  figure  of  the  novel,  one  of  those  strong  Amazon-like 
types  of  woman  that  Mollhausen  likes  to  delineate,  always  leaving 


128  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

them  enough  femininity  to  make  them  lovable.  We  follow  her  over 
the  seas  to  Panama  and  along  the  Eastern  coast  of  the  United  States 
searching  for  her  son  Harald  in  the  dangerous  times  of  the  Civil 
War.  A  graphic  bit  of  narrative  is  Harald's  escape  from  a  blockade 
breaker,  aiding  the  Southern  cause  off  the  coast  of  North  Carolina, 
and  fleeing  through  the  swamps  with  two  fugitive  slaves.  The  tak 
ing  of  Fort  Fischer  is  described  at  length.  The  action  is  told  with 
the  novelist's  usual  "Epische  Breite".  Many  episodes  might  have 
been  left  out  without  injuring  the  main  action  of  the  story. 

Der  Spion.     Roman  in  3  Bdn.     Stuttgart.     1893. 

The  first  pages  consist  of  the  description  ,of  a  graveyard  in  the 
province  of  New  Mexico  at  the  close  of  the  fifties.  Upon  one  grave 
is  the  inscription  "Conde  Pablo  del  Armigo.  Verungliickt  am  22. 
Mai  1845.  Friede  seiner  Asche."  Near  it  is  that  of  the  wife  of  the 
deceased.  The  scene  is  now  shifted  to  the  state  of  Missouri  in  the 
late  summer  of  1864.  The  country,  so  rich  in  pasturage,  was  pros 
pering  when  the  Civil  War  came  with  its  hemming  effects.  Guer 
rillas  raced  over  the  country,  robbing,  burning  and  murdering  under 
pretence  of  being  defenders  of  secessionistic  principles,  and  of  pre 
paring  the  way  for  the  victorious  Southern  army  to  advance.  In  a 
small  northern  camp  we  are  made  acquainted  with  the  Mexican 
frontiersman  Nicodemo ;  a  slender  young  German,  named  Durlach 
in  the  uniform  of  a  captain  of  the  Union  army;  a  uniformed  Irish 
man  ;  and  a  young  Indian  of  the  Otoes.  Colonel  Rutherfield  of  the 
Northern  army  is  advancing  toward  Kansas  City,  and  left  Lydia 
behind.  The  settlement  where  Lydia  is  staying  is  about  to  be  sacked 
by  guerrillas,  and  the  above  small  party  has  gone  to  Lydia's  rescue. 

We  are  then  introduced  to  the  eccentric  but  whole-hearted  Martin 
Findegern,  a  maker  of  coffins,  who  emigrated  from  Germany  in  his 
youth,  because  he  was  too  proud  to  withstand  the  disdain  his  brother- 
in-law,  a  "Geheimer  Rat"  had  for  the  poor  apprentice  boy.  Martin 
Findegern  came  to  St.  Louis  and  there  became  a  prosperous  man. 
Years  passed,  St.  Louis  grew,  and  Martin  found  himself  enclosed  by 
the  city.  His  property  had  grown  very  valuable,  great  sums  were 
offered  for  it,  but  he  refused  to  sell.  One  day  he  was  visited  by  two 
young  men  and  a  young  lady,  and  found  in  them  none  else  but  his 
sister's  children.  His  proud  brother-in-law  had  given  his  children 
a  good  education,  but  left  them  with  no  out-look  for  the  future,  and 
so  they  had  come  to  America.  The  one  young  man  was  "Regierungs- 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  129 

assessor",  and  the  other  "Forstkandidat".  "Beautiful  titles" 
thought  Martin,  "but  of  no  value  in  this  country."  These  two  Ger 
mans,  at  first  somewhat  shocked  by  American  democracy,  however, 
soon  show  themselves  good  characters.  Maurus  Durlach  becomes 
an  esteemed  captain  in  the  Northern  army ;  Markolf  Durlach,  a 
prosperous  trapper  at  Council  Bluffs.  Maurus  marries  Lydia  Ruth- 
erfield;  Markolf  falls  in  love  with  Daisy,  the  flower  of  Council 
Bluffs,  a  young  Indian  maiden  who  has  been  educated  in  the  Presby 
terian  mission  there.  She  later  dies  at  the  hands  of  the  guerrilla 
chief  Quinch. 

Upon  the  secession  of  the  Southern  States  St.  Louis  became  a 
center  from  which  Southern  planters  living  there  sent  support  to  the 
guerrillas  acting  in  their  interests.  Active  both  among  the  Northern 
er?  and  the  planters  and  guerrillas  of  the  South  is  Oliva.  a  young 
Mexican  woman,  and  the  principal  character  in  the  novel.  She  is  the 
daughter  of  that  Conde  Pablo  del  Armigo  whose  grave  was  described 
at  the  opening  of  the  novel.  She  was  bred  on  a  ranch,  and  knows 
well  how  to  ride  the  wildest  mustang,  throw  the  lasso,  and  shoot. 
Now  we  find  her  as  a  cowboy  among  the  guerrillas,  and  now  as  a 
young  lady  among  the  Southern  planters,  apparently  espousing  their 
cause.  She  is  in  reality  playing  into  the  hands  of  the  Northerners, 
and  is  none  other  than  the  much  talked  of  spy  known  as  Campbell, 
whom  no  one  has  yet  seen.  Her  motives  in  spying  are  personal  rather 
than  patriotic ;  she  desires  to  bring  about  the  fall  of  Quinch,  the 
guerrilla  chief,  who  is  really  Sullivan,  the  second  husband  of  her 
mother.  He  had  brought  her  to  an  untimely  end  and  robbed  Oliva 
of  her  estate.  The  main  problem  then  of  this  story  is  to  gain  the 
mastery  of  Quinch,  who,  besides  laying  waste  the  country,  is  also 
endeavoring  to  kidnap  Lydia  Rutherfield,  the  daughter  of  the  weal 
thy  Northern  Colonel,  and  hold  her  for  ransom.  The  protagonists 
are  Captain  Durlach,  his  brother  Markolf,  Oliva,  and  Nicodemo.  It 
is  due  to  the  latter's  efforts  that  Lydia  is  safely  brought  to  the  mission 
at  Council  Bluffs. 

Mollhausen  gives  the  reader  a  good  description  of  life  in  St. 
Louis  in  the  Sixties,  and  describes  its  various  elements :  soldiers 
in  uniform,  workers  along  the  wharves,  stokers  from  the  river 
steamers,  weathered  trappers  in  leathern  coats  from  the  North,  Mexi 
can  cowboys  from  across  the  prairies,  half-breeds,  negroes,  and 
mulattoes.  We  make  the  acquaintance  of  the  famous  trapper  Kit 


130  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

Andrieux,  and  attend  the  secret  and  ghastly  meetings  of  members  of 
the  Clu  Clux  Clan. 

Dcr  Talisman.    Roman.    2  Bde.    Jena.     1894. 

This  is  another  of  Mollhausen's  novels  whose  scenes  are  laid  in 
both  Germany  and  America.  The  American  element  however  pre 
dominates.  In  the  German  element  the  author  is  as  usual  less 
successful.  The  scene  opens  on  the  German  seacoast,  where  a  ship 
wrecked  man  is  washed  ashore,  with  only  faint  life  still  remaining. 
It  is  Jonas  Werbeland,  the  son  of  an  East  Prussian.  The  latter  had 
been  attracted  by  the  alluring  descriptions  of  rich  lands  in  Oregon 
and  had  migrated  thither  with  his  family.  Jonas  grew  to  manhood 
there  and  fell  in  love  with  the  daughter  of  a  Spaniard  named  Salazar. 
Jonas  was  an  unacceptable  suitor  to  the  father,  and  Salazar  conse 
quently  married  his  daughter  Beatrix  off  to  another.  The  jealous 
husband  of  Beatrix  plots  against  Jonas,  accuses  him  of  a  murder  of 
which  he  is  innocent  but  unable  to  acquit  himself,  and  thus  Jonas 
is  obliged  to  flee.  Before  his  departure  Beatrix  had  given  him  an 
ancient  gold  medal  which  had  been  presented  to  one  of  her  ances 
tors  by  Pope  Urban  VII  in  1590  and  had  since  that  time  been  in  the 
possession  of  the  family. 

On  returning  to  Germany  under  the  above  unfortunate  circum 
stances  Jonas  is  taken  in  and  kindly  cared  for  by  Lionel  von  Radel- 
hain,  the  son  of  a  noble  family  gone  bankrupt.  Lionel  therefore 
concludes  to  try  his  fortunes  in  the  new  world.  Jonas  gives  him  the 
Talisman  (the  gold  medal  given  him  by  Beatrix)  by  means  of  which 
Lionel  is  always  to  identify  himself  among  the  former  friends  and 
acquaintances  of  Jonas.  Through  him  Jonas  is  again  justified  in 
the  eyes  of  the  world. 

The  story  to  be  sure  is  rather  bizarre.  Not  satisfied  with  a  single 
thread,  the  author  introduces  many  minor  ones,  but  as  usual  disen 
tangles  them  all  successfully,  and  brings  the  whole  to  a  happy 
conclusion.  There  are  many  episodes  which  appear  unnecessary, 
and  some  of  the  characters  are  not  well  motivated.  The  author 
relates  with  an  epic  breadth  which  recognizes  no  economy  of  materi 
al.  The  atmosphere  of  Western  America  again  affords  a  happy  back 
ground.  We  meet  Lionel  von  Radelhain  first  in  the  geyser  region 
of  Yellowstone  Park  in  company  with  the  old  guide  Vilanderie, 
"Fallensteller  und  Fahrtensucher",  one  of  those  shaggy  nature  men 
whom  Mollhausen  loved  to  delineate  and  who  so  readily  reminds 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  131 

us  of  Cooper's  immortal  Natty  Bumpo.  Here  too  we  meet  the 
expedition  of  the  naturalist  Bloomficld  accompanied  by  his  daughter 
Jurassic,  a  lusty,  Amazon-like  maid  who  is  later  kidnapped  by  some 
frontier  ruffians  and  Indians  and  held  for  ransom. 

As  the  action  of  the  novel  covers  a  great  area,  it  affords  the 
author  ample  opportunity  to  weave  in  the  cultural  element  of  western 
life.  Once  we  are  at  the  trapper  station  at  Council  Bluffs  where 
we  learn  to  know  the  Canadian  trapper  and  guide  Laboux,  another 
Cooperian  type12.  Then  we  follow  the  great  western  emigrant  route 
to  California.  There  we  learn  to  know  the  town  of  San  Francisco 
shortly  after  the  discovery  of  gold.  Now  we  find  ourselves  in  the 
timber-lands  of  Oregon.  Uncouth  miners,  rowdies  in  low  barrooms, 
fighting  Sioux  and  Dacotahs,  the  men  at  the  fur  stations,  and  the 
drivers  of  the  United  States  mail-coaches  are  portrayed  with  an 
appealing,  healthy  realism.  It  is  indeed  a  motley  picture,  but  done 
with  a  certain  hand  by  one  who  paints  both  good  and  bad  with  a 
sympathetic,  human  heart. 

Um  Millionen.    Roman.     1896. 

The  scene  of  this  novel  is  laid  in  about  the  same  territory  as  that 
of  Der  Fdhrmann  am  Kanadian,  in  the  early  pioneer  days.  Sidney 
Tracy  and  his  brother  Franklin  have  found  rich  silver  mines  near 
Taos,  New  Mexico,  and  are  making  preparations  to  stake  a  claim. 
Their  secret  is  supposed  by  the  rascally  John  Kelly  who  foully  mur 
ders  both  the  brothers.  They  had  previously  drawn  up  charts 
carefully  describing  the  place  of  the  mines.  These  charts  had  been 
conveyed  to  distant  relatives  and  to  faithful  Indian  friends.  They 
did  this  because  they  feared  being  waylaid.  Sidney  Tracy,  while 
studying  engineering  in  Germany,  had  married  a  German  wroman. 
She  and  her  little  daughter,  hearing  of  Sidney's  murder,  journey 
westward  to  meet  the  brother  Franklin  as  heirs  to  a  share  in  the 
mines.  On  the  way  she  falls  a  victim  to  John  Kelly.  The  colored 
nurse  escapes  with  the  little  daughter  Rosa.  The  story  then  con- 


12He  is  described  as  follows :  "Er  war  ein  langer,  hagerer  Mann,  von  dem 
man  hatte  behaupten  mogen,  dass  die  von  der  Prarie  hereinwehende  Luft 
eine  ahnliche  Wirkung  auf  ihn  ausiibte,  wie  auf  einen  gefallenen  Biiffel,  der 
von  den  Wolfen  verschont  geblieben,  allmahlich  zu  einer  Mumie  ausdorrt. 
Mit  seinem  listigen  Waschbarengesicht,  auf  dem  nur  wenige  diirftige  Bart- 
proben  sichtbar  waren,  stand  im  Einklang  eine  eigentiimliche  Wortkargheit, 
ohne  dass  ihm  deshalb  Menschenfeindlichkeit  odcr  Manpel  an  Gastfreund- 
schaft  hatte  zum  Vorwurf  gemacht  werden  diirfen."  (p.  140). 


132  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

sists  in  the  endeavors  of  the  German  relatives  to  gain  knowledge  of 
the  mines  and  to  lay  claims  to  them,  and  in  the  opposition  of  John 
Kelly  and  his  fellow  crooks.  The  time  of  the  story  is  shortly  after 
the  discovery  of  gold  in  California.  Finally  John  Kelly  comes  to  an 
unhappy  end,  being  hanged  on  a  tree,  and  the  rightful  heirs  come 
to  their  possessions. 

Welche  von  Beiden?    Roman  in  2  Bdn.    Stuttgart.     1897. 

The  novel  opens  upon  a  plantation  in  the  Cumberland  valley 
about  six  years  before  the  Civil  War.  William  Griffith,  a  loose 
liver,  is  divorced  from  his  wife  Bianka.  She  remains  upon  the  plan 
tation  with  her  little  daughter,  who  is  soon  thereafter  kidnapped 
at  the  instigation  of  Griffith  himself.  Griffith  had  also  been  married 
to  the  celebrated  dancer  Lazarina,  by  whom  he  had  also  had  a 
daughter  of  about  the  same  age  as  that  of  Bianka.  Both  daughters 
bear  the  name  of  Harriet  and  both  resemble  the  father.  In  the 
meanwhile  the  war  has  begun,  many  of  the  plantations  are  devas 
tated,  the  slaves  flee,  and  Bianka  has  gone  elsewhere.  Bianka  is 
very  wealthy  and  shares  no  efforts  or  expense  to  find  her  daughter. 
Griffith  knows  this  and  now  employs  the  existence  of  these  two 
daughters  as  a  foil  for  Bianka  and  a  means  of  extorting  money  from 
her.  In  the  third  chapter  we  are  transferred  to  the  scenes  of  the 
Civil  War  and  witness  the  naval  movements  on  the  Missouri,  Missis 
sippi,  and  Red  Rivers.  Captain  Evandale,  a  Union  man,  together 
with  a  Choctaw  Indian,  is  on  the  path  of  Griffith.  One  daughter 
is  being  reared  by  a  farmer's  family  near  Lake  Michigan,  where 
she  is  known  as  Feu  Follet  (the  Will  of  the  Wisp).  She  is  one  of 
the  novelist's  most  charming  creations.  The  other  daughter  was 
adopted  by  a  Dr.  Tenbrock  and  has  enjoyed  refined  surroundings. 
Bianka  follows  the  trail  of  Feu  Follet  in  the  wilds  of  Northern 
Michigan,  and  then,  foiled  through  Griffith  and  his  accomplices, 
we  find  her  unknowingly  seeking  out  the  whereabouts  of  Ringlet 
and  Dr.  Tenbrock  who  have  gone  among  the  Spaniards  of  California. 
Also  we  follow  Captain  Evandale  in  his  endeavors  to  aid  Bianka, 
and  he  finally  discovers  both  girls.  Not  knowing  which  is  which, 
both  are  brought  to  Bianka.  She  is  unable  to  identify  her  daughter, 
and  after  having  both  in  her  home  for  some  time  concludes  that  both 
Feu  Follet  and  Ringlet  are  indispensable,  and  returns  to  her  South 
ern  plantation  with  them.  The  plot  is  typical  of  Mollhausen  and  of 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  133 

a  nature  that  permits  him  to  weave  in  a  vast  mass  of  cultural  and 
geographic  material  of  the  most  varied  kinds. 

Der  alte  Korpsbursche.     Roman.     Berlin.     1898. 

In  the  little  settlement  of  Hopetown  on  the  western  frontier 
hangs  the  sign  "Oskar  Zobel  and  Co.,  Trinkhalle  und  Fancy-Store." 
It  is  the  establishment  of  Oskar  Zobel,  a  former  German  Corps  stu 
dent,  an  old  bachelor,  whose  mild  and  philosophic  temperament  is 
placed  in  strong  contrast  with  the  brusque  manners  of  the  American 
frontiersman.  Here,  with  his  mug  of  beer,  his  clay  pipe,  and  his 
beloved  Tacitus,  he  whiles  away  the  uneventful  years.  He  is  a  sort 
of  Silas  Marner  of  the  West.  One  day  a  girl  of  twelve  years  arrives 
with  these  words  sewed  upon  her  apron :  "Lieschen  Kunze.  An 
Oskar  Zobel  in  Hopetown,  Nordamerika."  It  is  the  child  of  his  dead 
sister,  which  has  been  handed  over  into  his  care.  In  the  care  and 
love  for  this  child  the  old  "Corpsbursche"  is  brought  back  to  a  wider 
and  more  useful  life  again. 

Das  Fegefeuer  in  Frappes  Wigwam.    Roman.    Berlin.     1900. 

This  novelette  is  one  of  Mollhausen's  most  successful  shorter 
pieces  of  fiction.  It  is  full  of  the  wild  poetry  of  the  prairie,  and 
relates  the  story  of  an  Indian's  revenge.  On  the  banks  of  the  Ne 
braska,  near  the  great  emigrant  road  to  California,  Frappe  has  built 
a  simple  hut  where  he  trades  with  the  passing  emigrants.  Other 
inmates  of  this  hut  are  the  old  Indian  squaw  Nekoma  and  her  three 
sons,  the  French  guide  Vilandrie,  and  Kitty,  known  as  "Fegefeuer". 
The  latter,  an  unspoilt  child  of  the  plains,  had  years  before  been 
found  deserted  on  the  emigrant  road  by  the  side  of  her  dead  mother. 
Also  there  is  tarrying  in  the  hut  Thomas  Mark,  "ein  fahrender  Kiins- 
tler  und  Maler".  Later  also  the  party  of  the  geologist  Dr.  Kennedy 
stops  here.  They  are  obliged  to  halt  because  his  daughter  Arte 
misia  who  has  accompanied  him  upon  this  expedition,  has  sprained 
her  foot.  In  the  retinue  of  the  Doctor  is  the  rogue  Bill  Blunt,  who 
years  ago,  for  no  special  reason,  had  slain  the  Indian  husband  of 
Nekoma.  She  has  waited  all  these  years  in  the  firm  belief  that  fate 
would  bring  the  slayer  in  her  path,  and  she  at  last  avenges  her  hus 
band  with  the  death  of  Blunt.  This  deed,  the  romance  of  Mark  and 
Artemisia,  and  the  death  of  Kitty,  the  wild  maid  of  the  prairie,  are 
the  episodes  in  this  work.  The  novelist  has  successfully  fused  the 


134  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

poetry  of  western  life  with  the  wild  realism  of  the  days  that  followed 
upon  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California. 

Der  Postreiter.    Erzahlung.    Berlin.     1903. 

This  is  a  breezy  bit  of  narrative  about  early  stage-coach  days. 
The  action  takes  place  partly  on  the  old  Santa  Fe  road,  and  partly 
in  the  city  itself.  Old  Kennet,  the  mail  coach-driver,  one  of  those 
sturdy  characters  of  the  West,  whom  Mollhausen  delineates  so  suc 
cessfully,  is  a  German  who  had  found  his  way  to  the  far  West  and 
there  married  a  Spanish  woman.  She  died  early  leaving  him  a 
daughter,  whom  he  loves  dearly  and  from  whom  he  cannot  bear  to 
be  separated.  The  out  rider  Juan,  who  accompanies  Kennet  every 
where,  and  who  is  known  far  and  wide  for  his  beauty,  his  courage, 
and  his  daring  feats  as  a  horseman,  is  none  other  than  Rennet's 
daughter  Juanita,  who  has  grown  up  in  male  attire  in  order  to  make 
it  easier  for  her  to  accompany  her  father.  Other  interesting  char 
acters  are  the  Alkalde  of  Sante  Fe,  the  Indian  Gobernador  of 
Pueblo  de  Santo  Domingo,  the  young  American  Reginald,  and  the 
wealthy  American  girl  Gabriele  Kearney.  The  latter  two  lovers 
elope  in  order  to  escape  the  designs  of  Gabriele's  guardian  to  marry 
her  off  to  his  own  son.  We  follow  the  wild  pursuit  of  the  elopers 
across  the  prairies  to  Sante  Fe  where  they  have  been  brought  in 
the  mail-coach  by  Kennet  and  Juan  who  secure  for  them  a  notary 
and  they  are  hastily  married  in  the  old  walls  of  the  Indian  town. 

Die  V  erlorene. — Die  Barcnhaiit.  Zwei  Erzahlungen.  Berlin.  1904. 

Die  V erlorene  is  an  effective  tale  of  emigrant  life.  The  German 
optician  Waldbek,  with  wife  and  four  children  has  crossed  the  Isth 
mus  of  Panama  and  is  waiting  for  a  steamer  bound  for  California 
in  the  time  of  the  gold  fever.  In  the  mad  rush  they  are  separated 
from  their  little  daughter  Lottchen.  In  spite  of  their  earnest 
entreaties  the  Captain  does  not  permit  of  delay.  Lottchen  is 
picked  up  by  a  well  meaning  Chinaman  who  adopts  the  child.  Under 
his  fatherly  protection  they  travel  to  the  Eastern  States  where 
Lottchen  studies  the  ballet  for  ten  years  and  then  conquers  the  pub 
lic  as  the  celebrated  danseuse  Lucile.  Her  manager  takes  her  to 
the  young  mining  city  of  San  Francisco.  Here  Mollhausen  gives 
his  readers  a  splendid  picture  of  life  in  the  early  gold  days,  of  the 
gambling  dens,  and  of  the  great  enthusiasm  of  the  miners  for  Lucile. 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  135 

She  is  finally  joined  to  her  parents  in  San  Francisco,  when  the 
father  had  established  himself  as  an  optician  and  prospered. 

Die  Barenhaut  is  a  story  of  love  and  revenge  in  the  mountains 
of  Norway.  Bjorge  and  Erich  Sven  are  both  suing  for  the  hand  of 
Gerda  Klaus,  whose  father  wants  to  marry  her  to  the  latter.  Bjorge 
however  receives  the  promise  that  if  he  returns  after  a  year  or 
longer  with  three  thousand  kronen  the  girl  shall  be  his.  Bjorge 
leaves  for  Western  America.  After  some  time  the  father  spread 
the  report  that  the  vessel  with  Bjorge  was  lost  at  sea.  Erich 
and  Gerda  are  thereupon  married.  Later  Bjorge  returns  with  his 
hard  earned  money  only  to  find  that  the  father  of  Gerda  has  de 
ceived  him.  Bjorge  is  broken  in  spirit  and  gradually  degenerates. 
He  seeks  revenge.  While  upon  a  bear-hunt  with  Erich  Sven  he 
urges  the  latter  to  make  an  attack  at  an  inopportune  moment,  and 
Erich,  the  husband  of  Gerda,  finds  his  death  in  the  embraces  of  the 
bear. 

Bildcr  aits  dcm  Reiche  der  Natur.    Berlin.     1904. 

It  will  be  difficult  to  find  in  German  literature  a  series  of  prose 
nature  studies  which  will  surpass  in  elegance  of  style  and  sustained 
beauty  those  offered  in  the  above  volume.  It  was  a  "Festausgabe" 
which  the  aged  novelist,  after  nearly  fifty  years  of  literary  activity, 
presented  to  the  publishers,  taking  no  remuneration  for  the  same. 
The  volume  consists  of  twenty  short  sketches,  in  which  the 
author  revels  in  the  beauties  and  wonders  of  nature.  Mollhausen's 
was  a  romantic  temperament,  and  he  saw  with  the  eye  of  an 
artist.  However,  he  does  not  write  of  nature  as  a  poetic  phil 
osopher  would.  There  breathe  from  these  studies,  in  spite  of 
the  author's  advanced  age,  a  healthy,  Greek-like  joy  and  love  of 
nature  for  its  sheer  self.  They  are,  nearly  all  of  them,  echoes  of 
the  days  which  Mollhausen  spent  wandering  on  the  Western  con 
tinent.  He  has  dipped  his  pen  into  the  memories  of  half  a  century 
ago.  Over  these  memories  as  set  forth  in  the  sketches  of  this 
volume  there  has  spread  a  mellowness  like  that  which  lingers  over 
the  realism  of  an  old  Dutch  or  Flemish  painting.  Of  the  western 
prairie  he  writes :  "Die  Prairie.  Ein  eigentumlicher,  geheimnis- 

voller    Zauber   umwebte   von    jeher   diese    Bezeichnung Es 

sind  dies  Erinnerungen  die  sogar  dem  auf  der  aussersten  Grenze 
stehenden  Greise  noch  das  Blut  der  Begeisterung  schneller  durch 
die  Adern  jagen,  ihn  geistig  zuriick  versetzen  in  jene  Tage,  in  denen 


136    I  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

er  keinen  andern  Herrn  iiber  sich  anerkannte,  als  denjenigen,  der 
die  Prarie  mit  allem,  was  sie  belebt,  schuf  und  schmiickte;  Tage, 
in'denen  er  leichtfertig  mit  demselben  Trotz  dem  erstarrenden 
Schneesturm  begegnete,  wie  dem  mit  Windeseile  einherrasenden 
Flammenmeer,  dem  listigen  rothautigen  Feinde,  wie  dem  m  die 
Ebene  hinabgestiegenen  Gebirgsbaren.  In  deren  Vergegenwarti- 
gung  mochte  man  sich  hinaufwiinschen  bis  in  die  Wolken  und  hoher, 
weit  hoher  noch,  urn  die  alten  vertrauten  Jagdgriinde  vom  beeisten 
Norden  bis  hinunter  zum  blauen  Golf  von  Mexiko,  von  dem  trage 
einherrollenden  Mississippi  bis  zu  der  langen  Kette  der  Rocky  Moun 
tains  mit  einem  einzigen  Blick  zu  umfassen.  Man  mochte  zuriick 
scheuchen  die  unaufhaltsam  vordringende  Kultur,  hinter  der  spur- 
los  verschwanden  der  zottige  Bison  und  der  braune  Jager,  und  mit 
ihnen  die  letzte  Poesie  des  'Fernen  Westens.'  "  In  the  essay  "Ein- 
fluss  der  Natur  auf  die  Sagenbildung"  he  speaks  of  the  Indian  maid 
Owa-issa,  and  at  the  same  time  laments  the  onslaughts  of  civiliza 
tion  upon  the  romantic  west :  " wo  das  geheimnisvolle  Gurgeln 

des  rastlos  die  nachgiebigen  Uf  er  unterspiilenden  Stromes  dein  stilles 
Lachen  begleitete,  wo  die  noch  selbstbewussten  Omahas  ihre  wilden 
Tanze  auffuhrten,  Trommelschlag  und  gellendes  Heulen  das  Echo 
zwischen  den  zerklufteten  Abhangen  weckten,  kreischt  zur  Zeit  miss- 
tonend  die  Dampfpfeife  zu  dem  durchdringenden  Schnarren  der 
Sage ;  wo  vor  dem  verschwenderisch  genahrten  Feuer  die  aben- 
teuerlichsten  Erzahlungen  ergrauter  Fahrtensucher  und  Fallensteller 
umliefen,  da  steht  heut  vielleicht  ein  Bethaus  nachbarlich  mit  einer 
Branntweinschanke  oder  der  Office  eines  gaunerischen  Advokaten 
und  Landspekulanten.  Alles  dahin !" 

Bilder  aus  dem  Reiche  der  Natur  consists  of  the  following  short 
sketches:  Die  Prairie;  Das  Meerleuchten ;  Eichen  und  Kakteen ; 
Die  Springflut ;  Die  Heimat  der  Sumpfzypresse ;  Aus  dem  Scharen- 
und  Gletscherreich ;  Ein  Kaferidyll;  Die  Terrassenstadt ;  Der  Eis- 
bruch  auf  dem  Huron-Sie ;  Der  zimmernde  Specht ;  Das  Hoch- 
plateau  von  Neu  Mexiko ;  Der  Urwald ;  Das  Schwarze  Canon ;  Der 
Prariehund;  Ein  indianisches  Arkadien;  Die  kalifornische  Sand- 
Wuste;  Vom  Jotungebirge  bis  zum  Naro-Fjord  hinab;  Ueber  den 
Isthmus  on  Panama;  Einfluss  der  Natur  auf  die  Sagenbildung; 
Nachtliche  Naturbeleuchtung. 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  137 

Sankt  Elnisfeuer  und  andere  Novtllen.     Berlin.     1905. 

Sankt  Elmsfcuer  is  a  sea-tale  based  on  the  sailor's  superstition 
about  the  natural  phenomenon  called  St.  Elm's  fire  very  rarely  seen, 
flaring  like  a  Jack  o'  Lantern  on  the  top  of  the  mast.  Two  German 
sailors,  old  Hachel,  and  young  Hermann  Stuhr,  are  on  an  American 
bark  heading  for  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Old  Hachel,  who  is  super 
stitious,  relates  how  years  ago  he  was  returning  to  his  wife  and 
children,  and  on  the  voyage  saw  St.  Elm's  fire,  signifying  that  he 
would  find  misfortune  at  home.  On  approaching  his  cottage,  he 
hears  within,  a  man  speaking  to  his  wife,  counting  money  into  her 
hand  and  then  kissing  her  good-bye.  Hachel  incited  by  the  thought 
of  St.  Elm's  fire  attacks  the  man  and  stabs  him.  The  man  was  only 
a  brother  of  his  wife.  Thinking  he  had  killed  the  brother,  he  fled 
to  sea  and  continues  to  remain  there  suffering  awful  remorse.  Old 
Hachel  tells  the  tale  to  Hermann  Stuhr,  and  entrusts  his  savings  to 
him  with  the  request  that  he  convey  them  to  his  wife  and  children. 
Sometime  thereafter  he  is  washed  overboard  in  an  awful  storm. 
Hermann  later  discovers  that  the  penitent  Hachel  was  in  reality  his 
long  lost  father. 

Der  Ritt  urns  Leben. — The  wife  of  a  pioneer  in  the  state  of 
Kansas,  left  alone  in  her  isolated  cabin,  is  surprised  by  an  old  re 
vengeful  lover.  \Yhile  he  is  molesting  her  with  his  passionate  appeals, 
her  little  child,  left  to  itself,  has  swallowed  some  grains  of  corn 
which  have  lodged  in  its  windpipe  and  are  choking  it.  The  lover, 
who  has  a  reputation  as  a  desperate  thief,  takes  the  pioneers'  horse 
and  rides  madly  to  the  next  town  for  a  doctor.  There,  being  seen 
on  the  horse  of  the  pioneer,  he  is  shot  as  a  thief.  He  succeeds, 
however,  in  telling  his  mission  to  the  doctor  and  then  dies.  The 
child  is  saved  and  thus  the  thief  atones  for  his  rascally  life.  This 
story,  with  possibly  a  few  slight  changes,  appeared  in  Fiirs  Deutsche 
Haus  in  1896. 

Die  Tierbandigerin  is  an  exciting  little  narrative  of  circus  life. 
It  pictures  in  a  most  realistic  manner  the  dangers  Lucie  undergoes 
in  training  for  public  performance  a  wild  and  treacherous  tiger. 

Der  Vaquero.     Roman.     Stuttgart.     1905. 

The  scene  of  this  novel  is  laid  in  Kansas.  It  depicts  the  condi 
tions  that  prevailed  in  the  border  states  and  territories  just  before 
the  civil  war.  Kansas  had  early  been  a  favorite  territory  for  squat 
ters,  who  appropriated  stretches  of  land  and  cultivated  them,  assert- 


138  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

ing  the  right  of  first  purchase  as  soon  as  the  government  advanced 
to  sell  the  said  land  to  individuals.  However,  since  land  speculators 
often  bought  many  square  miles  directly  from  the  government  and 
then  tried  by  trickery  to  cheat  the  squatters  out  of  the  property 
upon  which  they  had  spent  years  of  hard  labor,  it  is  little  wonder 
that  many  difficulties  arose.  These  difficulties  only  increased  when 
rich  planters  of  the  South  acted  contrary  to  the  law  that  no  slavery 
was  to  exist  North  of  36°  N.  Lat.  Knowing  that  Kansas  would 
soon  be  admitted  as  a  state  they  hired  swarms  of  freebooters  and 
adventurers  to  settle  temporarily  in  the  territory  and  thereby  win 
a  slave  state. 

The  story  sets  forth  the  struggles  of  the  squatter  Daniel  Howitt, 
who  is  living  on  the  borders  of  the  vast  prairie,  where  he  and  his 
family  have  labored  hard  for  eighteen  years  and  cultivated  a  pros 
perous  farm.  Two  land  sharks  and  a  gang  of  hired  ruffians  are 
trying  to  cheat  him  out  of  his  hard-earned  farm  and  make  him  take 
up  the  cause  of  the  South.  Another  story  in  this  novel,  running 
parallel  to  that  of  the  squatter  Howitt,  is  the  one  of  Felix  von 
Pardelstein,  a  German  nobleman,  who  on  account  of  an  unhappy 
domestic  life,  leaves  for  America  with  his  four  year  old  son,  and 
lives  many  years  in  a  western  frontier  town  as  locksmith.  His 
little  son  had  died  at  sea,  but  he  adopts  an  orphaned  boy  and  rears 
him  as  his  own.  Many  years  later  Wolfrade  Ecke,  an  old  love  of 
Pardelstein,  who  has  remained  unmarried  and  possesses  great  wealth 
is  filled  with  the»wish  to  bestow  her  wealth  upon  her  old  lover's 
son,  and  to  that  end  comes  to  America.  Pardelstein  and  the  adopted 
child  are  known  in  America  as  Thomas  and  Robert  King. 
Robert  has  grown  to  be  a  man  of  great  strength,  and  is  known  among 
the  cowboys  as  King  Bob.  For  him  the  book  is  named  Der  Vaquero 
(the  cowboy).  Through  him  and  Bell  Howitt,  the  Amazon  daughter 
of  Daniel  Howitt,  who  love  each  other,  the  two  stories  are  united. 
Der  Vaquero  is  the  last  of  Mollhausen's  long  series  of  novels.  He 
introduces  the  novel  with  lines  taken  from  the  introduction  to  his  first 
novel  Der  Halbindianer,  nearly  half  a  century  earlier,  and  then 
continues :  "Welcher  Unterschied  in  der  Anwendung.  Beseelten 
mich  damals  schiichterne  Hoffnungen,  so  ist  es  heute  an  mir,  wie 
nach  redlich  vollbrachtem  Tagewerk  mit  dem  Feierabend  mich  zu 
befreunden.  Was  sich  aber  zwischen  diesen  beiden  Endstationen 
entwickelte,  sind  die  Frtichte  ununterbrochener  Muhe  und  Arbeit, 
ohne  dass  ich  jemals  Ursache  gefunden  hatte,  mit  dem  wetterwend- 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  139 

ischen  Geschick  ernstlich  zu  hadern.  Und  Leid?  Welcher  Sterb- 
liche  konnte  sich  riihmen,  dass  es  ihn  ganzlich  verschonte?  Uner- 
schiitterlich  treu  blieb  mir  dagegen  iiber  alle  Wechselfalle  hinweg  die 
Liebe  zur  Xatur  und  allem,  das  sie  belebt.  Aus  ihr  schopfte  ich  die 
Begeisterung,  die  rnich  in  meinem  anspruchslosen  dichterischen  und 
kiinstlerischen  Schaffen  beherrschte  und  ermutigte.  Denn  stockte 
wirklich  der  Gedankenflug  oder  drohte  wohl  gar  Erschopfung,  dann 
brauchte  ich  nur  die  Blicke  iiber  eine  weite  Vergangenheit  hinweg  zu 
senden,  geistig  zu  weilen  inmitten  hehrer  Schopfungswerke  vor  den 
unscheinbarsten  sowohl  wie  vor  den  erhabensten,  um  wie  aus  zau- 
berischen  Traumen  ervvachend,  mich  aufs  neue  gekraftigt  in  die  Ar 
beit  zu  vertiefen.  So  erklart  sich  die  iibergrosse,  vielleicht  zu  grosse 
Zahl  von  Werken  und  Banden,  die  unter  meiner  Hand  hervorgin- 
gen." 

There  follow  here  brief  remarks  about  a  number  of  short  stories 
and  novelettes  from  the  pen  of  Mollhausen  which  have  appeared  in 
various  periodicals.  They  were  given  me  by  Frau  Mollhausen, 
many  of  them  cut  from  the  periodicals  in  which  they  had  appeared, 
so  that  in  many  instances  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  ascertain  when 
and  where  they  had  been  published. 

Die  Tochter  dcs  Squatters  ( 1881 )  presents  a  breezy  story  of  early 
days  in  Kansas — the  fifties,  when  the  territory  was  seeking  admit 
tance  to  the  Union.  The  Southerners,  eager  that  it  should  become  a 
slave  state  for  the  furtherance  of  their  cause,  resorted  to  unlawful 
means.  They  sent  out  bands  of  marauders  and  thieves  to  settle  tem 
porarily  in  Kansas  in  order  to  add  to  the  number  of  votes,  or  by 
threats  to  force  the  squatters  to  vote  for  slavery.  In  1855,  how 
ever,  numbers  of  armed  Northerners  came  to  the  assistance  of  the 
original  settlers,  and  the  territory  was  admitted  as  a  free  state.  The 
novelist  has  enlarged  upon  the  same  motive  in  his  last  novel  Der 
Vaquero. 

Engelid  (Novelle)  appeared  in  the  Gartenlaube  in  1882.  It  is 
a  story  with  a  poetic  Scandinavian  background,  suggested  by  the 
author's  northern  cruis«  with  Prince  Friedrich  Karl.  It  was  ad 
mired  by  Paul  Heyse. 

Die  Tochter  des  Lumpensammlers  (1882)  contains  no  American 
element.  The  story  centers  about  a  hardhearted  usurer  and  his 
daughter.  The  author  it  seems,  took  the  theme  from  an  earlier 
work  Die  Kinder  des  Stra  flings  (1876). 


140  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

Der  Schatz  vom  Satansmoor  appeared  in  the  Illustriertes  Sonn- 
tagsblatt  in  1886.  Two  farmers  from  Illinois  have  taken  a  herd  of 
oxen  to  the  great  emigrant  road  where  they  sell  them  to  emigrants 
who  pass  by.  They  are  returning  to  their  homes  with  their  money 
in  silver,  when  they  are  overtaken  by  severe  snowstorms  and  are 
from  physical  weakness  obliged  to  bury  their  money.  Only  many 
years  later  do  the  descendants  of  the  two  farmers  find  the  money. 

Die  Tochter  des  Pioniers,  a  novelette,  appeared  in  Gute  Geister 
in  1890.  It  gives  a  picture  of  early  pioneer  days  in  Kansas  and 
presents  an  interesting  murder  trial  in  which  the  pioneers  have  taken 
it  upon  themselves  to  sit  in  judgement  upon  the  prisoner. 

Flamingo  is  a  novel  which  appeared  in  the  Feuilleton-Corres- 
pondenz  in  1895.  In  it  the  author  has  handled  the  white  slave 
question.  The  scene  is  laid  in  New  York  where  Eva  Riidiger,  a 
pretty  German  girl,  gained  a  livelihood  for  herself  and  her  invalid 
father  by  playing  on  the  harp.  She  falls  a  victim  to  a  white  slave 
agent  and  is  brought  to  a  house  of  ill  repute.  Flamingo  is  the  nick 
name  for  Christoph  Brausig,  a  member  of  the  emigration  committee, 
through  whose  influence  the  girl  is  rescued  from  a  life  of  ignominy. 
A  thrilling  bit  of  narrative  is  the  raiding  of  the  house  by  newsboys 
who  snow-ball  the  mistress  and  her  aristocratic  male  guests  until 
she  gives  forth  the  girl. 

Uber  den  Isthmus,  a  novelette,  appeared  in  the  Illustrierte 
Chronik  der  Zeit,  1898.  The  scene  is  laid  in  Panama  before  the 
building  of  the  railroad  and  is  full  of  tropical  color.  The  pearl- 
fisher  Gil,  who  possesses  a  wonderful  voice,  and  his  sweetheart 
Furioso  are  both  simple  Mexicans.  Through  one  of  Barnum's 
agents  Gil  is  enticed  to  come  to  New  York.  Furioso,  wild  with 
love  and  grief,  follows  him  two  years  later,  and  finds  him  the  star 
of  the  operatic  stage.  Through  a  fire  in  the  opera-house  he  is  sev 
erely  injured.  He  is  nursed  by  Furioso  and  the  two  are  finally 
united. 

Das  Haus  in  der  Schlucht  takes  place  wholly  on  German  soil. 
The  exposition,  however,  occurs  in  California  during  the  gold 
days.  Three  Germans  are  engaged  in  digging  gold  together.  One 
of  them,  Hager,  had  been  married,  but  his  wife  had  died  shortly 
after  the  birth  of  a  daughter.  In  a  quarrel  Selling  kills  Hager, 
though  in  self-defense.  Seiling  in  remorse  then  takes  the  orphaned 
daughter-  Kordel,  returns  to  Germany,  and  makes  it  the  duty  of  his 
life  to  rear  Kordel. 


Balduht  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  141 

Dcr  Eulenkneisel  is  a  German  Silas  Marner.  It  is  the  tale  of  an 
old  German  miser  who  had  settled  on  the  banks  of  the  upper  Mis 
souri.  Through  the  loving  care  and  cheerful  temperament  of  an 
orphaned  niece  who  conies  from  Germany  to  find  him,  he  is  again 
brought  to  a  normal  attitude  toward  life.  It  appeared  in  the 
Feuilleton-Correspondenz  in  1901. 

Ben  Brook,  Eine  Indianergeschichte,  appeared  in  Der  Wochen- 
bote.  Ben  Brook,  a  volunteer  in  the  service  of  a  Major  Culvert, 
follows  the  Major  to  his  new  station  on  the  frontier  of  Arkansas, 
where  the  Major  is  to  maintain  safety  against  the  Waekow  and 
Kaddow  Indians.  The  abduction  of  the  Major's  daughter  Eleanor 
and  her  rescue  by  Ben  Brook  form  the  theme  of  the  story. 

Die  Grabeiche  is  a  splendid  tale  of  the  trappers  in  the  days  of 
the  St.  Louis  trading  company.  Josias,  the  trapper,  tells  the  story 
to  the  author  while  the  latter  is  lingering,  sketch-book  in  hand,  near 
Fort  Tejon.  Josias  tells  of  the  Indian  maid  Hummingbird  whose 
three  suitors,  Josias,  Peter  Lebeck,  and  a  Mexican,  Antonio,  en 
tered  a  contest  in  the  throwing  of  the  lasso  and  in  shooting  for  the 
possession  of  the  maiden.  Peter  Lebeck  wins,  but  later  Antonio, 
while  the  three  are  lassoing  a  great  grizzly  bear,  and  Peter  has  gone 
forward  to  thrust  a  knife  into  him,  out  of  envy  cuts  his  own  lasso, 
thus  giving  the  bear  freedom,  and  Peter  is  killed.  Old  Josias  again 
suggests  Cooper's  Natty  Bumpo. 

Mein  gutmiithiger  Freund  appeared  in  the  Illustrierte  Deutsche 
Monatshefte.  It  is  a  story  of  slavery  and  tells  of  the  flight  of  the 
quadroon  Mayflower,  her  pursuit  by  bloodhounds,  and  her  arrival 
at  the  Indian  reserves  in  Arkansas.  It  is  told  by  Bill  Spaniard,  a 
mixed  breed,  who  aided  Mollhausen  in  gathering  specimens  while 
on  his  journey  to  the  Pacific  in  1853. 

Der  Flachbootmann  presents  a  scene  on  the  Missouri  where  a 
young  farmer  is  on  his  way  down  stream  on  a  huge  flatboat  loaded 
with  hides,  corn,  and  maple  sugar,  his  sole  possession.  A  rich  rival 
for  the  hand  of  Eva  Silkhair  follows  him,  and  while  the  farmer  has 
left  his  boat  on  the  banks  to  journey  to  an  inland  farm,  bores  a  hole 
into  the  boat,  and  looses  it,  in  order  to  sink  it.  The  rival  falls  under 
a  barrel  of  sugar  and  thus  becomes  a  victim  to  his  own  plot.  The 
young  farmer  generously  saves  his  life  and  is  rewarded  by  hid 
rival's  father. 

Die  alte  Lady  is  the  story  of  a  Miss  Blair,  a  unique  old  character 
who  enjoyed  the  distinction  of  being  one  of  the  first  settlers  in 


142  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

Keansville  on  the  Arkansas.  There  is  a  certain  similarity  between 
Miss  Blair  and  the  heroine  of  the  author's  novel  Die  Einsiedlerinnen. 

Unter  den  Clansgenossen  is  a  tale  of  the  gruesome  deeds  of  the 
Clu  Clux  Clan  against  a  Northerner,  Captain  Bright,  shortly  after 
the  Civil  War.  The  place  of  action  is  near  the  confluence  of  the 
Arkansas  and  Mississippi  at  Fort  Napoleon. 

Die  drei  Freier  is  the  story  of  a  Kentuckian  farmer  and  his 
family  while  on  the  great  emigrant  road  to  the  gold  mines  of 
California. 

Das  Grab  in  der  Steppe  is  a  bit  of  narrative  which  the  author 
states  he  heard  related  on  his  return  across  the  prairies  from  his 
Colorado  expedition.  Jarvis  has  been  appointed  to  convey  a  large 
sum  of  government  money  from  Missouri  to  Sante  Fe.  A  number 
of  traders  and  adventurers  join  him  and  his  retinue,  thus  adding 
to  their  own  safety.  On  the  way,  some  members  of  the  party, 
allured  by  the  money,  plot  against  him.  He  is  shot  and  finds  a 
lonely  grave  on  the  prairie. 

Verkauft  is  a  novelette,  the  scene  of  which  opens  on  an  emigrant 
ship  on  which  is  a  refined  young  woman,  Isabella  Blenker,  who  was 
left  an  orphan.  She  has  fallen  a  victim  to  ruthless  white  slave 
agents  who,  under  the  guise  of  friends,  have  provided  her  with 
ocean  passage,  leaving  her  to  believe  that  she  is  to  have  a  position 
as  governess  in  the  family  of  a  rich  planter  in  Louisiana.  However, 
she  is  being  sold  for  illicit  purposes,  though  finally  rescued  through 
a  young  German  who  suspects  that  she  has  been  deceived. 

Der  Chef  des  Vigilance-Komitees  is  a  tale  of  early  days  in  San 
Francisco  and  of  the  activities  ,of  the  Vigilance  Committee,  a  private 
organization,  which  has  taken  it  upon  itself  to  secure  public  order 
and  rid  the  town  and  surroundings  of  the  molesting  rowdies  and 
criminals  who  had  come  to  California  after  the  discovery  of  gold 
there. 

Senor  Demonio  is  a  pleasing  novelette  whose  scene  of  action  is 
the  Mexican  Valley  of  Cuesta.  It  is  the  occasion  of  a  church  festi 
val.  In  the  midst  of  the  merry-making  Apaches  make  an  attack 
and  abduct  the  pretty  Spanish  maiden  Juanita.  Whiling  among 
the  Indians  is  Senor  Demonio,  whose  peculiar  actions  and  strange 
instruments  for  measuring  the  stars  make  him  powerful  among 
them  as  a  sorcerer  and  who  is  able  to  bring  about  the  release  of 
Juanita.  It  is  never  discovered  that  Senor  Demonio  was  none  other 
than  Professor  Recado  who  was  director  of  the  observatory  in  the 


Balduin  Mollhausen  t  The  German  Cooper  143 

City  of  Mexico.     This  novelette  appeared  in  Illustrierte  Deutsche 
Monatshefte. 

Der  Fallensteller,  Erzahlung  aus  dem  nordamcrikanischen  Grenz- 
leben,  ran  as  a  serial  in  the  Hausfreund  for  1868.  The  scene  is  laid 
in  the  Neoscho  Valley,  a  tributary  of  the  Kansas,  about  1854.  We 
find  an  old  trapper  visiting  a  grave  at  the  foot  of  a  great  old  oak.  He 
relates  here  the  story  of  his  love  for  Margarethe  Urbano  who  came 
to  an  early  death  in  1808. 

POEMS 

Mollhausen  was  preeminently  a  novelist,  yet  a  consideration  of 
his  works  would  not  be  complete  without  also  giving  attention  to 
his  poems.  The  novelist's  poetic  temperament  manifests  itself  con 
stantly  in  the  course  of  his  many  narratives,  but  he  had  never  sought 
verse  as  a  vehicle  for  artistic  expression  further  than  to  write  occa 
sional  poems  for  the  entertainment  of  his  friends.  Most  of  these 
occasional  poems  had  been  inspired  by  his  revered  friend  Prince 
Friedrich  Karl,  the  honored  hero  of  Metz,  and  read  before  the 
"Tafelrunde",  the  circle  of  friends  which  the  Prince  frequently 
gathered  about  him  in  his  hunting-lodge  "Dreilinden",  a  short  dis 
tance  away  from  Berlin.  These  poems  had  accumulated  in  the 
course  of  the  years,  and  were,  after  the  death  of  the  Prince,  collected 
and  published  as  Die  Dreilinden  Lieder  in  1896.  The  proceeds  from 
the  sale  of  this  volume  were  to  be  contributed  to  the  fund  for  the 
erection  of  a  monument  to  the  Prince  in  Metz.  In  the  introduction 
to  this  collection  of  poems  Mollhausen  has  explained  the  origin  of 
these  poems.  He  writes  in  part :  "Ihr  erstes  Entstehen  verdankten 
sie  einem  grossen  Zufall :  schon  seit  Jahren  hatte  ich,  und  wohl  nur 
auf  Grund  der  in  dem  damals  noch  jungfraulichen  Theil  der  nord- 
amerikanischen  Wildniss  gesammelten  Erfahrungen,  das  Gluck 
genossen,  dem  Prinzen  nahe  sein  zu  diirfen,  als  ich  seinen  Geburtstag 
durch  einen  poetischen  Gruss:  ,,Der  Klausner  von  Dreilinden," 
feierte.  Die  ganze  Art  der  Aufnahme  der  ungekiinstelten  Worte 
regte  mich  zu  neuem  Schaffen  an,  und  so  traten  zunachst  der  "Feld- 
marschallstrich,"  der  ,,Elfenbeinhumpen"  und  die  ,,Griindung  von 
Dreilinden"  ins  Leben.  Den  nachsichtig  gespendeten  Eeifall  glaubte 
ich  nur  dadurch  dankbar  anerkennen  zu  diirfen,  dass  ich  auf  dem 
einmal  betretenen  Wege  weiter  schritt.  Und  so  folgten  Trinklieder 
auf  ernste  Schilderungen,  Kellerlchren  auf  heitere  Weisheitsspriiche, 


144  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

je  nachdem  oft  nur  ein  hingeworfenes  loses  Scherzwort  die  Anre- 
gung  dazu  gab  und  wie  sie  in  einen  Kreis  von  Kriegern  und  Waid- 
mannern  hinein  gehorten,  bis  sie  allmahlich  zu  einem  Bandchen 

angewachsen  waren " 

The  novelist  makes  no  pretentions  in  these  poems.  There  are 
reflected  in  them,  however,  so  many  moods  and  emotions,  so  much 
manly  vigor  and  at  the  same  time  tenderness,  such  variety  and  ex 
cellence  of  form  that  the  reader  can  only  wish  Mollhausen  had  more 
frequently  expressed  himself  in  verse.  An  almost  plaintive,  elegiac 
note  is  heard  in  the  aged  writer's  following  "Zueignung"  to  this 
collection  of  poems,  dedicated  to  the  surviving  members  of  the 
"Vereinigung  Prinz  Friedrich  Karl." 

Die  Aehre  reift ;  vom  Herbst  des  heit'ren  Griin  beraubt, 

Nicht  lust'gen  Faltern  mehr  sie  dient  zur  Augenweide. 

Hat  reicher  Schnee  sich  ernst  gesenkt  auf  Bart  und  Haupt, 

Erhohter  Ernst  sich  einet  mit  des  Lebens  Freude. 

Wohl  find'  in  fremdem  losem  Sang  ich  noch  Genuss, 

Doch  sind  verklungen  meine  eig'nen  Schelmenlieder, 

Die  in  sich  bargen  manchen  treuen  Festesgruss ; 

Des  Lebens  Mai,  er  kehret  nimmer,  nimmer  wieder. 

Beleb'  ich  aber,  was  einst  Uebermuth  gedichtet, 

Gilt's  nicht  als  Sporn  zu  Lust  und  Funken  spriih'ndem  Wort ; 

Vielmehr  als  Denkstein,  der,  in  Pietat  errichtet, 

Wehmuth  erzeugt,  wie  an  geweihtem  Ort. 

Was  Frohsinn  schuf  in  jenen  gold'nen  Tagen, 

Durchzittern  heute  tief  empfund'ne  Herzensklagen. 

Whether  the  subject  of  his  songs  be  the  beauties  of  Scandinavia, 
as  in  "Nordlandsklange,"  a  rather  long  poem  in  the  meter  of  the 
Finnish  Kalevale.  or  distant  western  America,  as  in  "Verschollene 
Bilder"  and  "Westliche  Bilder,"  or  whether  it  be  a  jovial  drinking- 
song  as  in  "Wirkung  des  Durstes"  or  in  "Kellerlehren,"  there  breath 
forth  from  these  poems  Mollhausen's  own  genial  personality,  his 
optimism,  and  his  love  of  life  and  his  fellowman.  His  character 
istic  courage  and  virility  are  perhaps  best  expressed  in  his  "Bekennt- 
niss  eines  Wiistenjagers." 

Und  fehlt  der  rothe  Kragen  mir, 
Am  Stief  el  mir  der  Sporn, 
So  hindert's  nicht,  dass  trotzig  schier 
Die  Stirn  ich  trage  vorn. 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  145 

Dass  mil  dem  Eisen  ich  vertraut, 
Dass  Ross  mir  unterthan, 
Ich  frei  ins  Auge  hab'  geschaut 
Dem  bleichen  Sensenmann. 

Und  dass  mein  Wort,  \venn  ich  es  geb', 
1st  fest  wie  echter  Stahl, 
Drum  froh  bevvcgt  empor  ich  heb' 
Den  funkelnden  Pokal. 

Und  trinkend  blick'  ich  himmelwarts 
Und  ruf '  in  wilder  Lust ; 
"Es  lebe  hoch  ein  treues  Herz 
In  jedes  Mannes  Brust !" 

An  affective  poem,  the  last  of  the  Dreilinden  Lieder,  is  "Drei 
Freunde,"  reminiscent  of  his  early  days  in  western  America,  which 
were  a  source  of  inspiration  to  him  during  all  his  later  life. 

Eintrachtig  sie  hielten  zusammen, 
Bekampften  nach  westlichem  Brauch 
Der  Prarie  wild  lodernde  Flammen, 
Des  Schneesturms  erstickenden  Hauch. 

Xiemals  an  die  Zeit  sie  sich  banden, 
Der  Zufall  bestimmte  ihr  Ziel ; 
Ob  Stunden,  ob  Monate  schwanden, 
Sie  weilten,  wo's  ihnen  gefiel. 

Erschopft  nach  des  Tages  Beschwerde 
Gemeinsam  sie  pflegten  der  Ruh', 
Zum  Lager  sie  wahlten  die  Erde, 
Das  Sternenzelt  deckte  sie  zu. 

Drei  Freunde  auf  Tod  und  Leben : 
Mein  Ross,  meine  Buchse  und  ich, 
Einander  in  Treue  ergeben, 
Die  niemalen  wankte  noch  wich. 

Wie  ist's  so  viel  anders  doch  heute; 
Gesprengt  der  Gefahrten  Verein: 
Das  Ross  fiel  den  Wolfen  zur  Beute, 
Zu  Staub  ward  sein  bleichend  Gebein. 

-  -•.;v?^"-j 

Die  Buchse,  die  tausendfach  weckte 
Das  Echo  im  urwilden  Land, 


144  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

je  nachdem  oft  nur  ein  hingeworfenes  loses  Scherzwort  die  Anre- 
gung  dazu  gab  und  wie  sie  in  einen  Kreis  von  Kriegern  und  Waid- 
mannern  hinein  gehorten,  bis  sie  allmahlich  zu  einem  Bandchen 

angewachsen  waren " 

The  novelist  makes  no  pretentions  in  these  poems.  There  are 
reflected  in  them,  however,  so  many  moods  and  emotions,  so  much 
manly  vigor  and  at  the  same  time  tenderness,  such  variety  and  ex 
cellence  of  form  that  the  reader  can  only  wish  Mollhausen  had  more 
frequently  expressed  himself  in  verse.  An  almost  plaintive,  elegiac 
note  is  heard  in  the  aged  writer's  following  "Zueignung"  to  this 
collection  of  poems,  dedicated  to  the  surviving  members  of  the 
"Vereinigung  Prinz  Friedrich  Karl." 

Die  Aehre  reif t ;  vom  Herbst  des  heit'ren  Grim  beraubt, 

Nicht  lust'gen  Faltern  mehr  sie  dient  zur  Augenweide. 

Hat  reicher  Schnee  sich  ernst  gesenkt  auf  Bart  und  Haupt, 

Erhohter  Ernst  sich  einet  mit  des  Lebens  Freude. 

Wohl  find'  in  f  remdem  losem  Sang  ich  noch  Genuss, 

Doch  sind  verklungen  meine  eig'nen  Schelmenlieder, 

Die  in  sich  bargen  manchen  treuen  Festesgruss ; 

Des  Lebens  Mai,  er  kehret  nimmer,  nimmer  wieder. 

Beleb'  ich  aber,  was  einst  Uebermuth  gedichtet, 

Gilt's  nicht  als  Sporn  zu  Lust  und  Funken  spruh'ndem  Wort ; 

Vielmehr  als  Denkstein,  der,  in  Pietat  errichtet, 

Wehmuth  erzeugt,  wie  an  geweihtem  Ort. 

Was  Frohsinn  schuf  in  jenen  gold'nen  Tagen, 

Durchzittern  heute  tief  empfund'ne  Herzensklagen. 

Whether  the  subject  of  his  songs  be  the  beauties  of  Scandinavia, 
as  in  "Nordlandsklange,"  a  rather  long  poem  in  the  meter  of  the 
Finnish  Kalevale.  or  distant  western  America,  as  in  "Verschollene 
Bilder"  and  "Westliche  Bilder,"  or  whether  it  be  a  jovial  drinking- 
song  as  in  "Wirkung  des  Durstes"  or  in  "Kellerlehren,"  there  breath 
forth  from  these  poems  Mollhausen's  own  genial  personality,  his 
optimism,  and  his  love  of  life  and  his  fellowman.  His  character 
istic  courage  and  virility  are  perhaps  best  expressed  in  his  "Bekennt- 
niss  eines  Wiistenjagers." 

Und  fehlt  der  rothe  Kragen  mir, 
Am  Stiefel  mir  der  Sporn, 
So  hindert's  nicht,  dass  trotzig  schier 
Die  Stirn  ich  trage  vorn. 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  145 

Dass  mit  dem  Eisen  ich  vertraut, 
Dass  Ross  mir  unterthan, 
Ich  frei  ins  Auge  hab'  geschaut 
Dem  bleichen  Sensenmann. 

Und  dass  mein  Wort,  wenn  ich  es  geb', 
1st  fest  wie  echter  Stahl, 
Drum  froh  bevvegt  empor  ich  heb' 
Den  funkelnden  Pokal. 

Und  trinkend  blick'  ich  himmelwarts 
Und  ruf  in  wilder  Lust; 
"Es  lebe  hoch  ein  treues  Herz 
In  jedes  Mannes  Brust!" 

An  affective  poem,  the  last  of  the  Dreilinden  Lieder,  is  "Drei 
Freunde,"  reminiscent  of  his  early  days  in  western  America,  which 
were  a  source  of  inspiration  to  him  during  all  his  later  life. 

Eintrachtig  sie  hielten  zusammen, 
Bekampften  nach  westlichem  Brauch 
Der  Prarie  wild  lodernde  Flammen, 
Des  Schneesturms  erstickenden  Hauch. 

Xiemals  an  die  Zeit  sie  sich  banden, 
Der  Zufall  bestimmte  ihr  Ziel; 
Ob  Stunden,  ob  Monate  schwanden, 
Sie  weilten,  wo's  ihnen  gefiel. 

Erschopft  nach  des  Tages  Beschwerde 
Gemeinsam  sie  pflegten  der  Ruh', 
Zum  Lager  sie  wahlten  die  Erde, 
Das  Sternenzelt  deckte  sie  zu. 

Drei  Freunde  auf  Tod  und  Leben : 
Mein  Ross,  meine  Biichse  und  ich, 
Einander  in  Treue  ergeben, 
Die  niemalen  wankte  noch  wich. 

Wie  ist's  so  viel  anders  doch  heute; 
Gesprengt  der  Gefahrten  Verein : 
Das  Ross  fiel  den  Wolfen  zur  Beute, 
Zu  Staub  ward  sein  bleichend  Gebein. 

Die  Biichse,  die  tausendfach  weckte 
Das  Echo  im  urwilden  Land, 


146  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

Das  scheue  Getier  jahlings  schrekte, 
Triibselig  jetzt  hangt  an  der  Wand. 

Betracht  ich  in  miissiger  Stunde 
Sie  still  und  von  Wehmut  bewegt, 
Dann  mem'  ich,  dass  riihmliche  Kunde 
Sie  traumerisch  heget  und  pflegt. 

Und  was  sie  erzahlt,  klingt  wie  Lieder 
Aus  ferner  verschollener  Zeit, 
Gewissenhaft  schreib'  ich  es  nieder, 
Sei's  jauchzende  Lust  oder  Leid. 

Und  ist  erst  das  Trachten  und  Dichten 
Des  Alten  endgiiltig  verweht, 
So  wird  sie  zwar  weiter  berichten, 
Doch  Keiner  da,  der  sie  versteht. 

Ein  Weilchen  gedenkt  man  des  greisen 
Erzahlers  vielleicht  noch  in  Treu', 
Die  Biichse  wird  rostiges  Eisen,  — 
Und  damit  ist  alles  vorbei ! 

On  the  occasion  of  the  great  festival  of  German  rifle-corps  held 
in  1890,  Mollhausen  wrote  a  long  poem  addressed  to  the  German 
riflemen  who  had  come  as  representatives  from  America.  The  poem 
was  printed  in  the  Illustrierte  Festzeltung  fur  das  10.  Deutsche 
Bundesschiessen,  Berlin,  4.  Juli,  1890.  The  poem  was  later  some 
what  changed  by  the  author.  It  is  here  printed  in  its  altered  form, 
according  to  the  manuscript  in  the  possession  of  Frau  Mollhausen. 
The  poem  was  originally  printed  under  the  title:  "Festgruss  an  die 
deutsch-amerikanischen  Schiitzen."  The  manuscript  from  which  the 
following  is  printed  bears  the  headlines :  "Als  Vermachtniss  des 
bald  Achtzigjahrigen  den  Deutsch-Amerikanern  zur  weiteren  Ver- 
breitung  zugeeignet." 

Wie  das  Lied  von  Hiawatha, 
Jenes  Schippewa-Propheten, 
Wie  der  Sang  von  Minne-haha, 
Jener  holden  "Lachend  Wasser," 
Kosend  lebt  in  meinen  Ohren, 
Also  mochte  ich  begriissen 
Euch,  ihr  freien  deutschen  Schiitzen, 
Die  gekommen  aus  dem  Westen 
Ubers  Meer  aus  weiter  Feme, 


Balduin  Alollhauseti,  The  German  Cooper  147 

Aus  dem  Lande  Hiawatha's 

Aus  der  Heimat  Minne-haha's. 

Doch  zum  Dichten,  herzergreifend, 

Fehlet  mir  die  Zaubergabe, 

Und  zum  Sang,  den  Ohren  schmeichelnd, 

Mir  der  Drossel  siisse  Kehle. 

Will  daher  als  Weidmann  reden 

Zu  Euch,  freie  deutsche  Schutzen; 

Selbst  ein  alter  deutscher  Schiitze, 

Dessen  gute  Biichse  knallte 

Frohlich  schon  vor  funf  Jahrzehnten 

Fernab  in  den  Rocky-Mountains, 

Auf  der  unbegrenzten  Prairie, 

In  den  Colorado-Schluchten, 

In  des  Goldlands  diirren  Wiisten, 

Fern  in  jungfraulichen  Waldern, 

Fern  in  nie  gestorter  Wildnis. 

Und  so  hort  denn,  deutsche  Manner, 
Deren  Faust  die  Wehr  befreundet, 
Deren  Brust  ist  voller  Lieder, 
Schoner,  echter  deutscher  Lieder 
Wehmutsvoll  und  wieder  jubelnd  : 

In  dem  Lande  der  Dakotahs 
Wo  der  Nordarm  des  Nebraska 
Still  umschleicht  die  macht'gen  Scott-Bluffs, 
Damals  noch  des  zott'gen  Bisons 
Ungezahlte  schvvarze  Herden 
Trage  schritten  zu  den  Tranken, 
Urn  im  Flussschlamm  sich  zu  \viilzen ; 
Wo  der  Ziegenmelker  klagend, 
"Whipp-poor-Will"  rief  durch  die  Kliifte 
Und  der  graue  Bar  sich  nahrte 
Von  der  siissen  Frucht  der  Ceder : 
Dort  im  Lande  der  Dakotahs 
Stand  ich  hoch  auf  gelber  Klippe. 

Unten  glanzten  Sioux-Zelte 
In  dem  Abendschein  der  Sonne. 
Um  die  Feuer  emsig  regten 
Braune  Weiber  sich  und  Kinder. 
Manner  lagerten  im  Kreise 
Und  den  Kalumet  man  reichte 
Drinnen  glimmten  Sumachblatter — 
Feierlich  von  Hand  zu  Handen. 
Abseits  weideten  die  Pferde, 
Manche  rasteten  gesattigt. 

Friede  herrschte  aller  Enden, 
Holder  Friede  auf  der  Prairie, 
Unabsehbar  grim  und  duftig. 


148  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

Frieden  lachelte  der  Himmel, 
Zart  geschmuckt  mit  Abendpurpur. 
Frieden  hauchte  selbst  die  Brise, 
Die  mir  fachelte  die  Schlafen. 

Und  ich  atmete  mit  Wollust 
Jene  reine  Luft  der  Berge. 
Weiter  dehnte  sich  die  Brust  mir 
Und  das  Blut,  es  wallte  heisser 
Durch  die  jugendfrischen  Adern, 
Als  ich  spahte  traumverloren 
Bis  zur  Grenze,  wo  die  Prairie 
Mit  dem  Himmelsdom  sich  einte. 
Was  ich  aber  dachte,  fiihlte, 
Was  den  Pulsschlag  trieb  zur  Eile : 
Alles  ward  zu  Jubelgriissen, 
Die  begeistert  ich  entsandte 
Hin,  soweit  das  Auge  reichte. 

So  ward  ewig  unvergessen 
Jener  milde  Zauberabend. 
Jahre  sind  seitdem  entschwunden, 
Mehr  als  fiinfzig  lange  Jahre. 
Was  einst  Poesie  der  Wildnis : 
Bisonherden,  braune  Jager, 
Lust'ger  Ritt  auf  Tod  und  Leben, 
1st  verwandelt  und  zerstoben 
Vor  dem  Hauch  des  Eisenrosses, 
"Feuerfressend,"  "Funken  schnaubend." 

Auch  die  Menschen  jener  Zeiten, 
Menschen,  die  sie  uberlebten, 
Schnee  mit  jedem  Jahr  sich  senkte 
In  den  Bart  und  auf  das  Haupthaar. 
Trager  wallet  in  den  Adern 
Jetzt  das  Blut,  das  abgekuhlte ; 
Ernste  Ruhe  trat  anstelle 
Einst'gen  wilden  Vorwartssturmens. 
Wehmutvoll  die  Blicke  schweifen 
Uber  langst  vergang'ne  Tage. 
Auch  nach  vorne,  wo  verlockend 
Nach  des  Lebens  Miih  und  Arbeit, 
Eines  Lebens  lang  und  kostlich, 
Griisset  jene  siisse  Ruhe 
Der  gliickselige  Jagdgefilde. 

Doch  noch  einmal  es  sich  regte 
In  den  altersrost'gen  Gliedern 
Mit  erwachter  Jugendfrische, 
Wie  vor  Zeiten,  gliihend  wallte 
Auf  das  Blut  in  meinen  Adern. 

Es  geschah  auf  jene  Kunde, 


Balduin  Mollhaitsen,  The  German  Cooper  149 

Dasz  ihr,  freie  deutsche  Schiitzen, 
Angespornt  durch  heil'ge  Sehnsucht 
Nach  den  Stiitten  eurer  Kindheit, 
Nach  der  Heimat  eurer  Vater, 
Eiltet,  um  auf  Muttererde 
Euch  im  frohen  Kampf  zu  messen 
Mit  den  Mannern,  die  verbriidert 
Mit  euch  durch  das  Band  der  Sprache, 
Durch  die  Sitten  vvie  durch  Liebe 
Zu  dem  macht'gen  Vaterlande, 
Zu  dem  "Deutschland  iiber  Alles." 

Und  so  griiss'  ich  euch  begeistert, 
\\'ie  einst  von  der  Scott-Bluffs  Hohe 
Die  Natur  in  ihrem  Festkleid, 
Ich  begriisse  euch  als  Manner 
Deutscher  Ehre,  deutschen  Mutes 
Deren  Wehr,  wie  zu  dem  Wettstreit, 
Auch  bereit  zu  blut'gem  Ringen, 
Wenn  Gefahr  der  Freiheit  drohet, 
Feinde  tiickisch  Hader  schiiren. 
Stets  bereit  zu  blut'gem  Ringen, 
Wie  vvir's  lernten  von  den  Vatern, 
Deren  hehrer  Ruhm  durchwebet 
Glanzvoll  mehrals  ein  Jahrtausend. 

Auch  begriiss'  ich  euch  begeistert, 
Als  die  Glieder  einer  Kette, 
Starker  noch  als  Stahl  und  Eisen 
Die,  geschmiedet  in  dem  Feuer 
Deutscher  Sitte,  deutscher  Treue, 
Fest  vereinigt  Ost  und  Westen. 

Endlich  gruss'  ich  Euch  als  Briider 
Die  nach  tausendjahr'gem  Vorbild, 
Mit  dem  Humpen  sich  befreunden, 
Die  aus  goldnem  Quell  des  Rheinweins 
Trinken  \Yeisheit,  Lust  an  Liedern, 
An  den  trauten  Heimat sweisen, 
Wie's  geziemet  starken  Mannern, 
Wenn  nach  Tagesarbeit  rastend. 

Diese  Griisse,  die  geboren 
Auf  der  teuren  Muttererde, 
Die  ein  Echo  von  Millionen  : 
Wenn  die  Feste  hier  verklungen, 
Tragt  sie  hin  zur  neuen  Heimat ! 
Wiederholt  sie  euren  Frauen 
Wort  fur  Wort,  den  liebenswerten ! 
Wiederholt  sie  euren  Kindern, 
Die  verheissend  euch  umringen ! 


150  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

Praget  ein  den  jungen  Herzen, 

Dass  gewissenhaft  sie  pflegen 

Jenes  Erbe,  das  geheiligt 

Durch  der  Jahre  mehr  als  tausend. 

Jenes  Erbe,  welches  wurzelt 

In  der  "Alten  Deutschen"  Urwald, 

In  der  nebelhaften  Steinzeit; 

Jenes  Erbe  das  vereinigt, 

Was  getrennt  durch  weite  Raume; 

Jenes  Erbe  hold  und  kostlich : 

Edle  reine  deutsche  Sitte 

Und  die  siisse  Mutter spr ache  I 

Not  without  interest  are  Mollhausen's  translations  of  negro  songs 
which  are  scattered  throughout  his  novels.  These  he  had  probably 
himself  heard  or  gathered  indirectly  during  his  travels  in  America. 
He  has  preserved  in  his  German  rendering  to  a  remarkable  degree 
the  characteristic  negro  spirit  of  the  southern  plantation.  Some  of 
these  songs  are  familiar  enough  to  us;  others  are  strangers,  and 
may  be  local  songs  which  came  to  the  notice  of  the  author  while  in 
America.  In  Der  Halbindianer  occur  the  following: 

"Und  das  kleine  Hiittchen  unter  Ranken 
Ich  immer  vor  mir  seh', 
Gern  weil'  ich  bei  ihm  in  Gedanken, 
Wo  ich  auch  geh'  und  steh'." 

"Der  ganzen  Welt  bin  ich  so  miide, 
Schweif  ich  auch  weit  hinaus, 
Auf  der  Plantage  nur  wohnt  der  Friede 
Und  bei  den  Alten  zu  Haus." 

In  Der  Majordomo  we  hear  the  happy  negroes  sing  stanzas  from 
"Lucy  Neal." 

Weit,  weit  in  Alabama, 

Mein  guter  Herr  hiess  Diel 

Besass  'ne  schone,  gelbe  Maid, 

Man  nannt'  sie  Lucy  Niel. 

Oh,  Lucy  Lucy  Niel, 

Oh,  arme  Lucy  Niel, 

Wenn  du  jetzt  lagst  an  meiner  Brust, 

Welch  himmlisches  Gefuhl! 

Miss  Lucy  brach  im  Baumwollfeld 
Die  Samen  von  dem  Stiel; 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  151 

Und  grade  da  verliebt'  ich  mich 
In  meine  Lucy  Niel. 

Ich  wurd'  verkauft,  dieweil  es  hiess, 
Ich  hatt'  gestohlen  viel, 
Das  war  die  Ursach',  dass  ich  schied 
Von  meiner  Lucy  Niel. 

In  Dig  Griiber  in  der  Steppe,  a  novelette  in  Palmblatter  und 
Schneeflocken,  is  this  German  version  of  a  once  common  negro  plan 
tation  song. 

War  einst  ein  alter  Neger,  Onkel  Ned  wurd'  er  genannt, 

That  vor  Jahren  schon  zum  Negerhimmel  geh'n. 

Und  sein  Schadel  war  noch  kahler  als  der  Riicken  seiner  Hand, 

Keine  Wolle  auf  demselben  mehr  zu  seh'n ! 

Leg'  die  Schaufel  und  die  Hacke  immerhin  bei  Seit', 
Und  dann  hang'  die  Fiedel  und  den  Bogen  fort, 
S'  giebt  keine  schwere  Arbeit  mehr  fur  Onkels  Thatigkeit, 
Er  ging  an  der  guten  Neger  letzten  Ort ! 

Seine  Finger  waren  durrer  als  das  Rohr  dort  in  dem  Bruch, 

Konnt'  auf  beiden  Augen  endlich  nichts  mehr  seh'n, 

Hatt'  zum  Beissen  von  dem  Maisbrod  auch  der  Zahne  nicht 

[genug, 
Darum  Hess  er  auch  das  Maisbrod  immer  stehn. 

Als  der  arme  Ned  starb,  weinte  Thranen  viel  sein  Herr, 
Wie  ein  Regen  stromten  sie  zur  Erd'  hinab. 
Und  die  Herrin,  ach,  die  weinte  und  die  klagte  noch  viel  mehr, 
Weil  der  Onkel  Ned  nun  lag  in  seinem  Grab. 

In  Das  Hundertguldenblatt  the  following  bits  are  found. 

Ich  komm'  von  Altvirginien, 
P>in  alles,  nur  nicht  dumm, 
Besuchte  nie  die  Armenschul', 
Xoch  sonst  'n  Colleg'um! 

Doch  ein  Ding  ich  erklare  Euch, 
LTnd  das  ist  wahr  genug 
'S  ist,  wie  Gott  hat  die  Welt  gemacht 
In  einem  Athemzug! 

1m  Anfang  schuf  er  Berg  und  Thai, 
Den  Himmel  malt'  er  d'rauf, 
Und  hing  ihn  iiber  seinem  Kopf. 
Alsbald  zum  Trocknen  auf. 


152  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

Das  Meer  war  jetzt  sein  nachstes  Werk 
Den  Wallfisch  schuf  er  dann, 
Und  dann  den  Waschbar,  dem  er  hing 
Ein  Ringelschwanzchen  an ! 

These  stanzas  were  followed  with  this  refrain : 
Kommt  herein,  kommt  herein,  kommt  herein,  ich  sage, 
Kommt  herein  und  sehet  zu,  wie  ich  das  Bango  schlage, 
Kommt  herein  und  horet  zu,  wie  hell  das  Bango  klingt, 
Und  seht,  wie  auf  dem  Saitenspiel  des  Niggers  Finger  springt ! 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  153 

APPENDIX. 
I.     A  LIST  OF  THE  EDITIONS  OF  MOLLHAUSEN'S  WORKS. 

1858. — Tagebuch  einer  Reise  z'om  Mississippi  nacli  den  Kiisten  der 
Sitdsee.  Eingefiihrt  von  Alex  v.  Humboldt.  Mit  13  Ilkistrat. 
in  Oelfarben  u.  Tondr.,  10  Holzschn.  u.  i  (lith.)  Karte  (in  Fol.). 
Leipzig.  Mendelssohn,  gr.  4.  (XV,  494  s.  mit  Holzschn,  im 
Text.) 

2.  Aufl.  mit  verandertem  Titel :  Wanderungen  durch  die 
Prairien  und  IViisten  des  westliclten  Nordamerika  i'om 
Mississippi  nach  den  Kiisten  der  Siidsee  im  Gefolge 
der  von  der  Regierung  der  Vereinigten  Staaten  under 
Lieutenant  \V 'hip pie  ansgcsandten  Expedition.  Ein- 
gefuhrt  von  Alex.  v.  Humboldt.  Mit  i  lith.  Karte 
(in  Fol.),  entworfen  von  Henry  Lange.  Leipzig 
i860.  Mendelssohn,  gr.  8.  (XVI,  492  S.) 

1860. — Sketches:  Scenen  aus  dem  Volksleben  in  New-Orleans 
(Gartenlaube,  Nr.  26,  1860)  ;  Die  Fata-Morgana  in  der  IVtiste 
(Ibid.,  Nr.  30,  1860)  ;  Der  Prairiebrand  (Ibid.,  Nr.  36,  1860)  ; 
Das  Canalboot  (Ibid.,  Nr.  43,  1860). 

1861. — Reisen  in  die  Felsengebirge  Nord-Amerikas  bis  zum  Hoch- 
Plateau  von  Neu-Mexiko,  unternommen  als  Mitglied  der  im 
Anftrage  der  Regierung  der  Vereinigten  Staaten  ausgesandten 
Colorado-Expedition.  Mit  12  vom  Verfasser  nach  der  Natur 
aufgenommenen  Landschaften  und  Abbildungen  von  Indianer- 
Stammen,  Thier-u.  Pflanzenbildern  in  Farbendruck,  nebst 
Karte.  Eingefiirt  durch  zwei  Briefe  Alex.  v.  Humboldts  in 
(lith.)  Facsim.  2  Bde.  Mendelssohn.  Leipzig.  Lex. — 8. 
XXVI  861  s.  m.  12  Holzschntaf.  u.  i  Karte  in  Holzszhn. 

Der  Halbindianer.    Erzahlung  aus  dem  westlichen  Nord- 
Amerika.    4  Bde.    Jena.     Costenoble.    8.     (1118  S.) 
Der  Ftiichting.      Erzahlung   aus   Neu-Mexico    und    dem 
angrenzenden   Indianergebiet ;   im   Anschluss  an   den 
"Halbindianer".  4  Bde.  Jena.  Costenoble.  8.  (1115  S.) 
1863. — Der  Major  dome,    Erzahlung  ans  dem  sitdlichen  Kalifornien 
und  Neu-Mexico;    im  Anschluss  an  den  "Halbindianer"  und 
"Flitchtling".    4  Bde.    Jena.    Costenoble.    8.     (10048.) 
Palmblatter  und  Schneeflocken.     Erzahlungen  aus  dem  fernen 
Westen.     2  Bde.     Jena.     Constenoble.  8.    (X,  461  S.) 
1864. — Das   JMormonenmadchen.      Eine    Erzahlung    aus    der    Zeit 
des  Kriegszuges  der  Vereinigten  Staaten  gegen  die  "Heiligen 
der  letzten  Tage"  im  Jahre  1857-1858.    6  Bde. 

This  novel  appeared  as  Vols.  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  and  9  in  the 

Deutsche  Romanbibliothek.    Jena.     Costenoble.     16.     (893  S.) 

2.  (Titel-)  Aufl.    6  Bde.    Ebend.  1868.  gr.  16.     (893  S.) 


154  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

3.  Aufl.  Erschien  in  Unterhaltungsbibliothek  fur  Reise 
und  Haus.  8.  Jena.  Costenoble..  (Zwischen  1871-76.) 
3  Theile  in  i  Bd.  (893  S.) 

1865. — Reliquien.     Erz'dhlungen  und  Schilderungen  aus  dem  west- 
lichen  Nordamerika.    3  Bde.   Berlin.   Janke.   8.    (688  S.). 
Die  Mandanenweise.     Erzahlung  aus  den  Rheinlanden  u.  dem 
Stromgebiet   des  Missouri.     2   Abthlgn.    in    4   Bdn.     Berlin. 
Janke(?).    8.    (1048  S.) 

1867. — Der  Meerkonig.    .Eine  Erzahlung  in  3  Abthlgn.     6  Bde. 
Jena.   Costenoble.   8.    (XV,  1394  S.) 

Nord   und   Sud.     Erz'dhlungen   und   Schilderungen   aus   dem 
westl.  Nordamerika.    2  Bde.    Ebend.   8.    (419  S.) 
1868. — Der  Hochlandpfeifer.   Erzahlung.   6  Bde.  Jena.   Costenoble. 
8.    (VI,  1229  S.) 

2.  Aufl.    6  Bde.   8.    (222,  235,  221,  182,  186  u.  183  S.) 

Ebend.    1877. 

1870. — Das  Hundertguldenblatt.    Erzahlung.     2  Abthlgn.    a  3  Bde. 
Berlin.  Janke.  8.    (213,  240,  258,  261,  249  und  240  S.) 
Der   Piratenlieutenant.     Roman.     4   Bde.     Berlin.     Janke.     8. 
(Ill,  304;   III,  292;  III,  312  u.  Ill,  292  S.) 

2.  Aufl.    (568  S.)  Bde.  16-25  in  der  Haus-Bibliothek.    16. 

Ebend.    1877-80. 

3.  Aufl.   8.    (VI,  530  S.)    Berlin.   O.  Janke.    1902. 

1871. — Der  Kesselflicker.     Erzahlung  in  3  Abthlgn.     5  Bde.  gr.  8. 

Berlin.     (Ill,  263;  III,  245;  III,  246;  III,  228  u.  Ill,  207  S.) 
1872. — Das  Finkenhaus.     Roman.     4  Bde.     Berlin.     Janke.    (308, 

300,  291  u.   340  S.) 
1873. — Westliche  Fdhrten.   Erz'dhlungen  u.  Schilderungen.    2  Bde. 

8.   Ill,  312  u.   Ill,  254  S.)    Berlin.  Janke. 

Die  Einsiedlerinnen.     Roman.     4  Bde.    8.     (256,  252,  259  u. 

240  S.)     Berlin.    Janke. 
1874. — Das  Monogramm.     Roman.     4  Bde.     8.     (264,  282,  268  u. 

283  S.)    Ebend. 
1876. — Die  Hy'dnen  des  Capitals.     Roman.     4  Bde.  8.   (319,  288, 

277  u.  2648.)    Berlin.    Janke. 

Die    Kinder   des   Str'dflings.     Roman.     4  Bde.    8.    (276,  235, 

249  u.  231  S.)   Ebend. 

1878.— Der  Reiher.    Roman.    3  Bde.  8.    (320,  323  u.  820  S.)    Ber 
lin.    Janke. 
1880. — Vier   Fragmente.      Roman.    4  Bde.     8.    (243,  240,  244  u. 

182  S.)    Ebend. 

2.  Aufl.   8.    (492  S.)    Ebend.     1880. 

Der  S  chats  von  Quivira.     Roman.     3  Bde.     8.     (347,  332,  u. 

338  S.)    Ebend. 

Die  Tochter  des  Consuls.     Roman.     3  Bde.    8.    (276,  282,  u. 

236  S.)    Berlin.    Janke. 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  155 

2.  Aufl.    3  Theile  in  i  Bd.  8.   (146,  157  u.   1138.)   Ebend. 

1881. 

1883.— Der  Fanatiker.    Roman.    3  Bde.    8.   (XI,  238,  276  u.  250  S.) 
Berlin.   Janke. 

Der  Leuchtturm  am  Michigan  und  andere  Erzdhlungen. 
Mit  einer  Einleitg.  von  Th.  Fontane.  (212  S.) 
Als  35.  Bd.  in  Collection  Spemann.  Deutsche  Hand- 
und  Haus-Bibliothek.  Stuttgart.  Spemann. 

1884. — Der   Haushofmeister.     Roman.     3    Bde.     8.     (279,    279  u. 
264  S.)    Jena.   Costenoble. 

Die  Traders.     Roman.    3  Bde.    8.   (341,  295  u.    322  S.) 

Berlin.   Janke. 
1886.— Wildes  Bint.    Erzahlnng.    3  Bde.    8.     (311,  303  u.  300  S.) 

Jena.    Costenoble. 

1887. — Das  Loggbuch  des  Kapitains  Eisenfinger.    Roman  in  3  Bdn. 
8.  (311,  320  u.  344  S.)    Stuttgart.  Union. 

Dasselbe.    [Neue  Ausgabe]  3  Bde.  8.  (311,  320  u.  344  S.) 

Leipzig.    1888.   Keils  Nachf. 

1889. — Die  Familie  Melville.    Roman  aus  der  Zeit  des  nordameri- 
kanischen    Biirgerkrieges.     3  Bde.    8.    (310,  314  u.    348  S.) 
Leipzig.   Keils  Nachf. 
1889. — Das  Geheimnis  des  Hulks.    Roman.   214  S. 

Als  Bd.  309  in  Collection  Spemann.     Deutsche  Hand-  u. 

Hausbibliothek.     Stuttgart  1889.     Union. 
Neue  Ausg.   (214  S.)   1900.     Nr.  4  in  Moderne  Romane 

alter  Nationen.    8.    Stuttgart.    Union. 
1890. — Der  Fdhrmann  am  h'anadian.     Roman  in  3  Bdn.    8.   (256, 

275  u.  2445.)    Stuttgart,  Union. 

1891. — Haus  Montague.     Roman.    3  Bde.    8.  (270,  242  u.  264  S.) 
Jena.    Costenoble. 

Die  beiden  Yachten.    Roman  in  3  Bdn.  8.  (239,  224  u.  218  S.) 
Stuttgart.    Union. 
1892. — Die  Soldlinge.     Roman  in  3  Bdn.    8.   (246,  250  u.  247  S.) 

Stuttgart.    Union. 

1893. — Kaptein  Meerrose  und  ihre  Kinder.    Erzahlung  in  3  Bdn.  8. 
(312,  288 u.  260  S.)    Berlin.   F.  Fontane  &  Co. 

2.  Aufl.    2  Bdn.    (295  u.  301   S.).    Leipzig.    Bibliograph. 

Anstalt.   A.  Schumann.    1906. 
Der  Spion.     Roman  in  3  Bdn.      8.     (251,  248  u.  232  S.) 

Stuttgart.    Union. 
1894.— Der  Talisman.     Roman.    2  Bde.    8.   (386  u.  366  S.)    Jena. 

H.  Costenoble. 

1896. — Die   Dreilinden-Lieder.      Mit    einem    Bildnis    des    Prinzen 
Friedrich  Karl,  d.  Bildnisse  d.  Tafelrunde  u.  zahlr.     Orig.- 
Zeichngn.   8.  (XIX,  90  S.)    Berlin.    E.  S.  Mittler  u.    Sohn. 
Um  Millionen.     Roman.     ? 


156  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

1897.— IVelche  von  Beidenf    Roman  in  2  Bdn.    8.     (26811.2568.) 
Stuttgart.    Union. 

(This  novel  had  first  appeared  as  a  serial  in  the  Bibliothek 
der  Unterhaltung  und  des  Wissens.     Jahrgang  1895. 
4.— 10.  B.) 
1898. — Der  alte  Korpsbursche.    Roman.    Mit  Illustr.  v.  R.  A.  Jau- 

mann.    128  S. 

Nr.  77  in  Kiirschner's  Biicherschats.     Bibliothek  fiirs  Hans. 

12.    Berlin.    H.  Hilger. 
1900. — Das  Fegefeuer  in  Frappe's  Wigwam.    Roman.    Mit  Illustr. 

v.   W.  Roegge.    127  S.) 

Nr.  222  in  Kiirschner's  Biicherschats.    Berlin.    H.  Hillger. 
1903. — Der  Postreiter.     Erzahlung.     Mit  Illustr.  v.  Arth.  Lewin. 

(124  S.).    Nr.  346  in  Kiirschner's  Bucherschatz. 
1904. — Die  Verlorene. — Die  Bdrenhaut.   2  Erzahlungen.   Mit  Illustr. 

v.  W.  Roegge.    (no  S.)    Nr.  389  in  Kiirschner's  Biicherschats. 

Bilder  aits  dem  Reiche  der  Natur.     (VII,  175  S.  m.  i  Abbildg. 

u.  Bildnis.)    gr.  8.     Berlin.     D.  Reimer. 
1905. — Sankt  Elmsfeuer  und  andere  Novellen.     Mit  Illustr.  v.  A. 

Lewin.     (112  S.)    Nr.  459  in  Kiirschner's  Bucherschatz. 

Der    Vaquero.     Roman.    343    S.    m.    Bildnis.)    8.     Stuttgart. 

Union. 
1906. — Balduin    Mollhausens    Illustrierte    Romane,    Reisen    und 

Abenteuer.    Hrsg.  v.  Dietrich  Theden.   8.    Leipzig.    Paul  List. 
This  large  edition  of  Mollhausen's  works,  three  series  of 

ten  volumes  each,  began  to  appear  in  the  year  after  the  novelist's 

death,  and  in  the  following  order : 

First  Series:     I. — Der  Fdhrmann  am  Kanadian.    (1906); 

II.— Die    bciden     Yachten.      (1906);      III.— Urn    Millionen. 

(1907)  ;   IV. — Haus  Montague.  (1907)  ;   V. — Der  Piratenleut- 

nant.    (1907);     VI. — Der  Hochlandpfeifer.    (1907);     VII. — 

Die  Tochter  des  Konsuls.  (1907);    VIII. — Das  Loggbuch  des 

Kapitdns  Eisenfinger  (1908);    IX. — Vier  Fragment e  (1908); 

X.—Die  Familie  Melville  (1908). 

Second  Series :    I. — Die  Soldlinge  (1909) ;    II. — Der  Halb- 

indianer    (1909);     III. — Der  Fliichtling    (1909);     IV. — Der 

Majordomo  (1909) ;  V. — Der  Spion  (1909) ;  VI. — Die  Traders 

(1911);   VII. — Das   Mormononmadchen    (1911);   VIII. — Die 

Mandanenwaise  (1911);  IX. — Der  Talisman  (1911);  X. — Die 

Kinder  des  Straflings  (1911). 

Third  Series:    I.— Wildes  Blut  (1912);    II.— Der  Schatz 

1-on    Quivira    (1912);    III. — Die    Reiher    (1912);    IV. — Die 

Hyanen   des   Kapitals    (1912);    V. — Der   Fanatiker    (1912); 

VI. — Der  Haushofmeister  (1912)  ;  VII. — Das  Hundertgulden- 

blatt  (1913);  VIII.— Das  Finkenhaus  (1913);  IX.— Die  Ein- 

siedlerinnen  (1913)  ;  X. — Das  Monogramm  (1913). 


Baldwin  Mollhausen ,  The  German  Cooper  157 

1910. — The  following  tales  from  the  pen  of  Mollhausen  (some  at 
least  had  appeared  earlier  in  periodicals)  were  published  in  the 
l-'olksbibliothek  des  Lahrer  Hinkcnden  Boten.  Lahr.  M. 
Schauenburg. 

Nr.  1564-1573.  I.  Bdchn.  Die  Ansiedler. — Die  Ba'ren- 
haut. — Die  alte  Harfenistin. 

Nr.  1574-1583.  II.  Bdchn.  Verkauft.—Der  Finkenkrug. 
— Im  letsten  Augenblick. 

Nr.  1584-1593.  III.  Bdchn.  Die  Hochzeit  in  der  Pr'drie. 
— Das  Testament  des  Lumpensammlers. — Der  Eulen- 

kneisel 

During  the  course  of  the  years  Mollhausen  had  written 
numbers  of  tales  and  novelettes  for  various  periodicals.  The 
following  were  given  the  writer  by  Frau  Mollhausen,  but  in 
most  instances  without  any  means  of  fixing  the  time  or  place 
of  their  publication : 

Die  Tochter  des  Squatters  (1881)  ;  Etigelid  (in  the  Gar- 
tenlaube,  (1882);  Die  Tochter  des  Lumpensammlers  (1882); 
Der  S chats  vom  Satansmoor  (in  the  Illustriertes  Sonntagsblatt, 
1886)  ;  Die  Tochter  des  Pioniers  (in  Cute  Geister,  1890)  ; 
Flamingo  (in  the  Feuilleton-Correspondenz,  1895)  ;  Der  Ritt 
urns  Leben  (in  Furs  Deutsche  Haus,  1896) ;  Ueber  den  Isthmus 
(in  the  Illustrierte  Chronik  der  Zeit,  1898)  ;  Das  Haus  in  der 
Schlucht;  Ben  Brook.  Eine  Indianergeschichte  (in  Der  Wo- 
chenbote);  Die  Grabeiche;  Mein  giitmiitliiger  Freund  (in  the 
Illustrierte  Deutsche  Monatshefte) ;  Der  Flachbootmann;  Die 
alte  Lady;  Unter  den  Clansgenossen;  Die  drei  Freier;  Das 
Grab  in  der  Steppe;  Der  Chef  des  Vigilance-Komitees;  Senor 
Demonio  (in  the  Illustrierte  Deutsche  Monatshefte);  Ein  Tag 
auf  dem  Ufer  des  Colorado;  Die  Hya'nen  des  Schlachtfeldes; 
Die  Mission  San  Luis  Obispo;  Die  S clover ei  in  Amerika; 
Die  Erlenschmiede  (in  the  Mohrunger  Kreis-Zeitung,  1902)  ; 
Das  Gold  des  Graf  en  Rousset  de  Boulbon  (1887)  ;  Der  Komo- 
diant;  Der  Hansel  Kommt  (Essener  Volks-Zeitung,  1903-04) ; 
Seemannsblut.  Aus  Briefen  und  miindlichen  Mitthcilungen 
eines  fun  gen  Seemanns;  Die  Torfhexe  (1873)  ;  Das  Couplet; 
and  Der  Fallensteller  (Der  Hausfreund,  1868.) 


158  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 


II.     LETTERS. 

[These  letters,  the  originals  of  which  are  in  the  possession  of 
Frau  Mollhausen,  afford  a  running-  commentary  on  certain  periods 
of  the  novelist's  life.  The  hitherto  unpublished  letters  of  Alexander 
von  Humboldt  and  Duke  Paul  Wilhelm  of  Wurtemberg  are  of 
special  interest.] 

i. 

[From  Mollhausen's  guardian,  Count  Krassow  to  Mollhausen, 
after  the  latter Js  departure  for  America  for  the  first  time.] 

Es  thut  mir  ausserordentlich  leid,  mein  lieber  Hr.  Mollhausen, 
dass  ich  Sie  nicht  mehr  gesprochen  habe ;  dies  wurde  mir  zur  gross- 
ten  Freude  gereicht  haben ; — empfangen  Sie  nun  schriftlich  noch- 
mals  meinen  herzlichsten  Gliick-und  Segenswunsch  auf  den  neuen 
Lebens-Pfad,  den  Sie  betreten. — Wegen  des  Auswandrungs-Kon- 
senses  werde  ich  noch  heute  an  den  Reg.-Prasidenten  von  Wedell 
in  Stralsund  schreiben,  und  ihn  dringend  um  moglichste  Be- 
schleunigung  der  Sache  bitten. — 

Gott  sei  mit  Ihnen,  und  geleite  Sie !  Mit  herzlicher  Theilnahme 
werde  ich  Ihrem  Schicksal  folgen  und  Ihnen  stets  bleiben, 

Ihr  ergebener 

GRAF  KRASSOW. 

Diritz,  d.  8.  Marz  1850. 


[From  the  Duke  of  Wurtemberg  to  Mollhausen.] 

New  Orleans,  den  icten.  Maerz  1852. 
Mein  lieber  Herr  Moellhausen ! 

Mit  innigster  Freude  las  ich  Ihr  Schreiben  von  Bethlehem  und  in 
demselben  Ihre  gliickliche  Rettung.  An  mir  lag  es  bestimmt  nicht 
dass  die  von  mir  in  Bewegung  gesetzte  Hiilfe  nicht  an  Sie  gelangte, 
aber  der  entsetzliche  Winter  dessen  Strenge  bis  hier  in  den  Siiden  sich 
drangte,  machte  wahrscheinlich  alle  Versuche  misslingen  und  Buis- 
bora  von  Putowatomi  County  konnte  das  mir  zugesicherte  Wort 
Wohl  nicht  erfiillen?  Als  ich  Ihren  Bericht  las  schauderte  es  mich, 
doch  hob  sich  die  Seelenangst  in  der  ich  seither  lebte  und  welche 
sich  von  Tag  zu  Tag  mehr  steigerte,  als  ich  zu  den  Fleischtagen 
Egyptens,  nach  miihevoller  Reise  gelangt,  nichts  mehr  von  Ihnen 
hb'rte  und  Sie  verloren  wahnte.  Nun  sehen  Sie  Gott  hat  Sie  auch 
gerettet  und  wird  an  Ihnen  einen  Glaubigen  mehr  zahlen !  ?  Herr 
Consul  Angelrodt  schreibt  mir  Ihretwegen  auf  das  Theilnahmvollste 
und  dieser  mein  wiirdiger  Freund  wird  meine  Bitte  erfiillen  fiir 
Ihre  schnelle  Riickkehr  nach  St.  Louis  baldigst  zu  sorgen  und  Ihnen 
das  nothige  Geld  anzuweisen.  Ich  glaube  selbst  dass  Sie  Wagen 
und  Pferdegeschirre  verkaufen  sollten.  Die  Otoes  (Orac-toc-ta- 
ta)  die  ich  genau  kenne  haben  auch  mir  gute  Dienste  friiher  geleis- 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  159 

tet,  es  sind  keine  solche  Bestien  (Schun  Kape  fruherer  Chef  cier 
Otoes  war  mein  Freund)  wie  Lipon  und  Kayouas,  die  inzwischen 
tuchtig  Amerikaner  tod  schlugen.  In  alien  Blattern  war  mein  Tod 
angezeigt  und  in  Deutchland  wusste  man  es  nicht  anders.  Vors 
Erste  weiss  ich  keinen  anderen  Platz,  als  bei  mir,  der  ich  Sie  mit 
herzlicher  Sehnsucht  ervvarte,  nachdem  ich  mein  Versprechen  treu- 
lich  erfiillt  habe,  dass  es  Ihnen  recht  miserabel  gehen  vvurde  und 
Sie  nicht  als  Griiner  zuriickkehren  wiirden.  Jetzt  werden  Sie  des 
Robinsons  Abentheuer  mit  Andacht  lesen  konnen.  Es  ist  mir  sehr 
lieb  dass  Sie  die  Arsenik  gerettet  haben  und  wunsche  mir  dass  Sie 
solche  in  Ausbalgen  leeren  mochten.  Ich  freue  mich  sehr  Sie  in 
den  Illinois  (  ?)  wohin  ich  in  8-10  Tagen  iiber  St.  Louis  heimkehre 
wieder  zu  sehen  und  ervvarte  mit  Spannung  Ihre  Ankunft  durch 
den  nachsten  Missouri  Steamer. 

Herzlichst  der  Ihrige 
Paul  Wilhelm 

Herzog  von  Wiirttemberg. 
Heir  ist  voller  Sommer. 
Addressed :   Balduin  Mollhausen, 
Bethlehem, 

Ufer  Missouri. 


[From  Humboldt  to  Mollhausen.] 

Alles  ist  nun  fiir  Sie  gegliickt,  theurer  Mollhausen,  ganz  wie  ich 
so  herzlich  gewunscht  und  wie  Sie  es  so  sehr  verdienen.  Der 

Konig hat  sich  etwas  aus  dem  Ende  meiner  Vorrede  (Ihr  Lob) 

vorlesen  lassen ;  hat  3  Kupfertafeln,  die  ich  gezeigt  bewundert; 
und  den  Orden  4ter  Classe  jetzt  gleich  fiir  Sie  fest  bewilligt.  Er 
hofft  bestimmt  Sie  am  Donnerstag  friih  nach  9  Uhr  (zwischen  9 
und  9^2)  zu  empfangen;  auch  hat  Er  das  Versprechen  eines  Ge- 
schenkes  von  50  bis  60  Friedr.  d'or  (ausserordentliches  Reisegeld) 
wiederholt  bewilligt.  Ich  habe  alle  Hoffnung  dass  Sie  der  K6nigr 
der  allerdings  etwas  unzulassiger  in  Audienzen  vvegen  seiner  Krank- 
lichkeit  geworden  ist,  Donnerstag  vor  oder  nach  dem  Friihstuck 
oder  zu  einer  anderen  Zeit  des  Tages  z.  B.  nach  Tische  sehen  wird, 
doch  bitte  ich  Sie  sich  ja  darauf  einzurichten,  dass  Sie  die  Nacht 
bleiben,  damit  der  Konig  Sie  allenfalls  Freitag  friih  sehen  kann.  Das 
erst  Sonnabend  fertig  werden  der  Kupfertafeln  fiir  den  abwesenden 
Graf  Keller  ist  ziemlich  gleichgiiltig.  Sie  haben  genugsam  fur  den 
Konig,  alles  andere  sind  Hoflichkeiten.  Sie  konnen  die  Exemplare, 
ohne  selbst  wieder  hieher  zu  kommen,  schicken.  Das  Wichtige  ist 
schon  erreicht  und  Sie  miissen  bis  Dienstag,  d.  n.  Aug.(?)  Ihre 
Zeit  beisammen  halten.  Ich  habe  den  personlichen  Abschied,  was 
vielleicht  dem  Konig  angenehm  gewesen  ware,  nicht  bis  Sonntag 

nach  der  Kirche  aufschieben  mogen Sie  miissen,  wenn  Sie 

das  Kleinod  (den  Orden)  haben.  verabredeter  Massen  zu  Hof- 


160  Baldum  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

rath  Peisker  auf  die   Ordenscommission  vor   Sonntag  mit  einem 
Briefe  von  mir  bewaffnet  gehen. 

Da  der  Neid  in  Berlin  unter  Kiinstlern  und  bei  am  Hofe  Ange- 
stellten  floriert,  so  sprechen  Sie  von  dem  Orden  und  Geldgeschenken 
mit  Niemand  als  Ihrer  Gattin,  Schwiegereltern  und  Familie  aber 
von  meiner  Vorrede  und  dem  Lobe  das  ich  so  gerne  Ihnen  zolle 
sprechen  Sie  iiberall.  Das  Andere  mag  man  erfahren  wenn  Sie 
weg  sind. 

Ihre  liebenswiirdige  Gattin  wird  Ihre  Freude  theilen  wie  die 
meinige. 

A.  Humboldt. 
4- 

[A  letter  of  recommendation  which  Mollhausen  received  from 
Humboldt  on  the  former's  second  journey  to  America.] 

I  beg  everyone  in  America,  and  most  particularly  everyone  in 
the  beautiful  and  fertile  regions  of  the  United  States,  who  may  have 
preserved  some  recollections  of  my  name  and  labors,  to  receive,  with 
kindness,  the  bearer  of  these  lines,  my  countryman  Mr.  Balduin 
Mollhausen,  in  whose  fate  I  take  a  lively  and  warm  interest.  After 
having  served  in  the  army  with  great  distinction  and  to  the  entire 
satisfaction  of  his  superiors,  he  undertakes  a  second  voyage  in  the 
Northwestern  States  and  their  adjoining  territories  which  he  has 
already  traversed  with  laborious  care.  Instructed  by  the  intimate 
relations  which  he  enjoys  with  the  learned  naturalists  of  my  country, 
acquainted  with  the  deficiencies  of  the  Museums,  by  his  intelligent 
zeal  and  his  courageous  and  enduring  activity,  he  will  be  very  useful 
as  a  Collector  for  the  natural  history  of  savage  animals  and  the 
study  of  minerals  and  rocks.  A  very  remarkable  talent  for  drawing, 
as  applied  to  picturesque  sites  and  scenes  of  Indian  life,  will  add 
to  the  fruits  of  his  distant  voyages. 

Mr.  Mollhausen,  belonging  to  an  honorable  family  of  Pomerania, 
is  of  a  moral  character  worthy  of  entire  confidence.  By  his  conduct 
and  modest  simplicity,  he  has  won  here,  in  a  short  time,  the  affection 
of  my  friends. 

Bn.  Alexander  v.  Humboldt. 

Berlin,  i6th  of  April,  1853. 
5- 

[From  Humboldt  to  Mollhausen.] 

Ich  hatte  heute  Morgen  in  einem  kleinen  heiteren  Briefe,  den  ich 
dem  Konige,  beim  Aufstehen,  durch  den  Kammerdiener  Thisch  (?) 
geben  Hess,  an  Ihre  50  Stuck  Friedrichs  d'or  erinnert.  Das  erste 
Wort,  was  er  mir  heute  Mittag  vor  der  Tafel  sagte,  war :  Ihre  Geld- 
sache  fiir  Mollhausen  ist  ganz  nach  Ihrem  Wunsche  abgemacht. 
Da  nun  der  Kammerer  Sonnabend  Potsdam  verlasst,  so  glaube  ich 
dass  Sie  denselben  bloss  morgen  schon  fragen  sollten  "ob  Ihre 
Zeichnungen  bei  ihm  liegen ;  der  Konig  habe  mir  erlaubt,  dieselben 
nach  Berlin  mit  zu  nehmen,  um  sie  der  geogr.  Gesellschaft  zu 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  161 

zeigen  !"  Das  Geld  wircl  er  Ihnen  schon  von  selbst  zuschicken,  denke 
ich.  Viele  herzliche  Griisse  Ihrer  liebenswurdigen  hoffnungsvollen 
Gattin. 

A.  Humboldt. 
Mittwoch  Abend. 

6. 

[From  Humboldt  to  Mollhausen.] 

Ich  glaube,  mein  lieber  M — ,  dass  es  Sie  erfreuen  muss,  dass 
der  Konig,  seitdem  er  nicht  bloss  durch  mich  Ihre  so  naturgetreu 
aufgefassten  Zeichnungcn  of  Indian,  life,  sondern  auch  Sie  selbst 
hier  im  Schlosse  gesehen  hat,  mir  mehrmals  freundlichst  von  Ihnen 
gesprochen  hat;  sich  Hires  Oheims,  eines  wiirdigen  Geistlichen  in 
Pommern  lebhaft  erinnert,  und  viel  Antheil  an  dem,  fur  die 
Naturgeschichte  und  die  Sammlungen  gewiss  niitzlichen  Erfolg 
Ihrer  Reise  nimmt.  Meinem  vortrefflichen  Freunde,  dem  Geh.  Rath 
und  Professor  Lichtenstein,  der  sich  Ihrer  so  edel  angenommen 
und  dem  ich  Ihre  Bekanntschaft  verdanke,  miissen  Sie  diese  Zeilen 
^eig€n.  Gott  segne  Ihr  neues  Unternehmen. 

Alexander  v.  Humboldt. 
Berlin,  den  13.  April  1853. 

Addressed  :   Dem  preuss.  Unteroffizier, 
Herrn  Mollhausen, 

Berlin,  Klosterstr.  83. 

7- 
[From  the  Prussian  Ambassador,  Leo  Gerolt,  to  Mollhausen.] 

Washington,  den  I5ten  Mai  1853. 
Euer  Excellenz 

Hochverehrte  Schreiben  vom  8.  Marz  und  16.  April  d.  J.  habe 
ich  erhalten,  letzteren  durch  Herrn  Mollhausen  welcher  vor  einigen 
Tagen  hier  eingetroffen  ist ;  es  bedarf  keiner  Versicherung  meiner 
Seits  welche  Freude  mir  Ihre  giitigen  Mittheilungen  gemacht  haben 
und  wie  dankbar  ich  Ew.  Excellenz  fur  Ihr  stetes  Wohlwollen  gegen 
mich  verpflichtet  bin.  Der  Empfehlung  Sr.  Majestat  Unseres 
Konigs  und  dem  Zauber  Ihrer  Schriftziige  zu  Gunsten  des  Herrn 
Mollhausen  hat  derselbe  es  zu  verdanken  dass  ihm  hier  sogleich 
vortheilhafte  Anerbietungen  gemacht  worden  sind  welche  seine 
Reisezwecke  in  jeder  Hinsicht  fordern  miissen.  Nachdem  ich  ihn 
mit  den  Personen  welche  ihm  niitzlich  sein  konnten,  bekannt  ge 
macht  hatte,  empfehle  ich  ihn  fur  eine  der  wissenschaftlichen  Ex- 
peditionen  welche  im  Begriff  stehen  in  verschiedenen  Richtungen 
die  nordamerikanischen  Continente  zu  untersuchen  um  die  giinstig- 
sten  Verhaltnisse  zu  einer  Eisenbahn  nach  dem  stillen  Ocean  auszu- 
finden,  wie  Ew.  Excellenz  aus  dem  hier  beigefiigten  Zeitungsartikel 
ersehen  werden.  Bey  der  Expedition  des  Lieutenant  Whipple,  eines 
ausgezeichneten  Offiziers,  welcher  seinen  Weg  iiber  Memphis,  Fort 
Smith,  Arkansas,  Albuquerque  und  New  Mexico  nach  Californien 


162  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

nimmt,  war  noch  eine  Stelle  als  Zeichner  und  Naturalien-Sammler 
frey  welche  ihm  gegen  freyen  Unterhalt  und  Reisekosten  und  100 
Dollars  Gehalt  monatlich,  angeboten  ward.  Die  Expedition  wird 
wohl  ein  paar  Jahre  dauern  und  er  kann  sich  dabei  den  grossten 
Theil  seines  Gehalts  ersparen;  er  wird  noch  3  bis  4  Wochen  hier 
bleiben  und  diese  Zeit  zu  Vorbereitungen  und  Studien  verwenden 
da  das  Smithsonian  Institute  ihm  verschiedene  Auftrage  zu  physi- 
kalischen  Beobachtungen  giebt  ;  ich  fiige  hier  ein  Schreiben  von  ihm 
an  Ew.  Excellenz  bey  ;  .....  x 

Meine  Frau  welche  mit  den  Kindern  sich  wohl  befindet,  dankt 
Ew.  Excellenz  fur  Ihre  giitigen  Griisse  und  wir  vereinigen  unsere 
Wiinsche  und  Gebete  fur  Ihr  ungetriibtes  Wohlseyn  und  stete  Zu- 
friedenheit. 

In  der  Hoffnung  Sie  meinen  hochverehrten  Conner,  bald  wieder- 
zusehen  verharre  ich  mit  treuer  Anhanglichkeit  und  in  dankbarer 
Hochverehrung,  Ihr 

gehorsamster 

Leo  Gerolt. 
8. 

[Leo  Gerolt,  Prussian  ambassador  to  the  United  States  to  Hum- 
boldt] 

Baltimore,  den  28.  November  1853. 
Mein  hochverehrter  theuerster  Conner  ! 

Kurz  vor  Abgang  der  heutigen  Post  iiber  England,  erhalte  ich 
die  lang  erwarteten  Nachrichten  von  Mollhausen  aus  Albuquerque 
in  Neu  Mexico  und  ich  freue  mich  herzlich  die  Anlagen  fiir  Ew. 
Excellenz  und  fiir  Fraulein  Seif  ert  hier  beyzuschliessen  ;  er  schickt 
mir  zugleich  eine  Anweisung  von  400  Dollars  die  er  von  seinem 
Gehalte  bereits  erspart  hat  und  bittet  mich  zu  Gunsten  des  Fraulein 
Seifert  dariiber  nach  bestem  Gutdiinken  zu  verfiigen. 

Das  Zweckmassigste  scheint  mir,  dass  Frl.  S.  nach  dem  Rathe 
ihres  Vaters  und  Ew.  Excellenz,  dort  uber  das  Geld  verfiige  ob- 
gleich  hier  allerdings  hohere  Interessen  davon  zu  ziehen  waren.  So- 
bald  ich  das  Geld  in  Washington  bezogen  haben  werde,  werde  ich 
den  Betrag  davon  durch  die  Konigliche  Legations  Kasse  an  die  Or 
der  von  Frl.  Seifert  auszahlen  lassen. 

Bey  meiner  letzten  Anwesenheit  in  Washington  sah  ich  die  scho- 
nen  Zeichnungen  welche  Mollhausen  an  das  Smithsonian  Institut 
gesandt  hatte  und  wovon  er  die  Originale  bey  sich  f  iihrt  ;  seine  nach- 
sten  Nachrichten  aus  Californien  werden  wohl  lange  auf  sich  warten 
lassen  und  ich  bitte  Ew.  Excellenz  das  Frl.  S.  dariiber  zu  beruhigen. 
Bevor  die  Expedition  nach  Californien  gelangt,  wird  es  schwer 
seyn  Brief  e  hierher  zu  senden. 

Gestatten  Euer  Excellenz  dass  ich  im  Geiste  und  im  Gebete 
mich  den  frommen  Wiinschen  und  Huldigungen  anschliesse  welche 


1  More  than  half  of  this  letter,  having  no  further  references  to   Moll 
hausen,  has  been   omitted. 


Ralduin  Mollhausen ,  The  German  Cooper  163 

der  reine  und  kraftige  Jiingling  Ihnen  zum  neuen  Jahro  darbringt. 
Mein  Freund  Lt.  Maury  sandte  mir  ein  versiegeltes  Schrciben 
an  Ew.  Excellenz,  worin  das  Profil  der  Meeres  Tiefen  im  atlan- 
tischen  Ocean  sich  befindet.  Ich  habe  das  Schreiben  mit  andern 
Drucksachen  fiir  das  K.  Ministerium  mit  dem  Bremer  DampfschifT 
"Hansa"  nach  Berlin  befordert. 

Die  Kiirze  der  Zeit  erlaubt  mir  heute,  nur  noch  einige  Curiosa 
aus  hiesigen  Zeitungen  hier  beyzuschlicssen  und  mich  dem  ferncren 
\\'ohlwollen  Ew.  Excellenz  zu  empfehlen  indem  ich  mit  unwandel- 
barer  Hochverehrung  und  Freundshaft  verharrc. 
Ew.  Excellenz 

treu  ergebenster 

Leo  Gerolt. 

9- 

[Addressed  to  Alex,  von  Humbolt.] 

Baltimore,  den  28.  Dezember  1853. 
Ew.  Excellenz 

Hatte  ich  die  Ehre  unterm  28.  November,  und  2.  d.  M.  zu  schrei- 
ben  und  die  Reiseberichte  nebst  verschiedenen  Schreiben  von  Herrn 
Mollhausen  beyzufiigen. 

In  der  Anlage  erlaube  ich  mir  ein  Schreiben  von  Herrn  Kas- 
tellan  Seifert  beyzufiigen  worin  sich  eine  Anweisung  von  Rthr. 
550 — 10  Sgr.  4  pf.  zahlbar  bey  F.  M.  von  Magnus  an  die  Order  von 
Fraukin  Caroline  Seifert  befindet.  Dieses  Geld  ist  der  Betrag  von 
400  Dollars  welche  Herr  Mollhausen  an  mich  mit  dem  Ersuchen 
remittirt  hat  dieselben  zur  Verfiigung  des  Frl.  Seifert  zu  stellen. 

Indem  ich  mich  auf  meine  vorerwahnten  Schreiben  zu  beziehen 
mir  erlaube,  habe  ich  die  Ehre  Euer  Excellenz  die  Versicherungen 
meiner  unbegrenzten  Hochachtung  und  Verehrung  zu  erneuern. 

Leo  Gerolt. 

10. 

[From  the  Prussian  ambassador  to  the  United  States  to  Herr 
Seifert] 

Baltimore,  den  28.  Dezember  1853. 

An  den  Koniglichen  Castellan, 

Herrn  Seifert  \Yohlgeboren  zu  Berlin. 

Durch  seine  Excellenz  Herrn  Baron  von  Humboldt  werden  Sie 
bereits  erfahren  haben  dass  Herr  H.  B.  Mnllhausen  mich  bcauf- 
tragt  hat  400  Dollars  zur  Verfiigung  Ihrer  Fraulein  Tochter  Caroline 
zu  stellen  und  da  der  Cours  fiir  Rimessen  nach  Europa  sehr  un- 
giinstig  ist  so  habe  ich  vorgezogen  das  Geld  auf  mein  Zuguthaben 
dort  bey  F.  M.  von  Magnus  anzuweisen  wobey  die  iiblichen  Com- 
missionen  fiir  Wechsel  Courtage  p.  p.  erspart  werden ;  ich  iiber- 
sende  Ihnen  hierbey  den  Betrag  von  399  Dollars  welche  ich  von 
Washington  bezogen  habe  in  einer  Tratte  von  Herrn  Magnus  an  die 
Order  Ihrer  Fraulein  Tochter  zum  Betrage  von  Rthr.  550 — 10  Sgr. 


164  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

4  pf.  und  ich  bitte  Sie  mir  den  Empfangschein  dafiir  zukommen  zu 
lassen. 

Von  Herrn  Mollhausen  werden  wir  nun  sobald  keine  Nachricht 
erhalten  da  er  nicht  eher  schreiben  kann  als  bis  er  in  San  Diego  in 
Californien  angekommen  sein  wird. 

Im  nachsten  Friihjahr  wird  er  wohl  hierher  zuriick  komnien. 
Wie  er  mir  zuletzt  schrieb,  gefiel  es  ihm  sehr  gut  bey  der  Expedition 
des  Lt.  Whipple  und  ich  glaube  dass  der  Weg,  den  er  gemacht,  die 
Richtung  der  grossen  Eisenbahn  werden  wird  welche  den  atlan- 
tischen  Ocean  mit  dem  stillen  Ocean  verbinden  soil,  Sr.  Excellenz 
Herr  v.  Humboldt  wird  Ihnen  den  Weg  auf  seinen  Charten  zeigen. 

Mit  dem  Wunsche  dass  Sie  und  die  Ihrigen  sich  wohl  befmden 
und  ein  vergniigtes  neues  Jahr  haben  mogen,  verharre  ich 
Ihr  ergebenster 

Leo  Gerolt. 

P.  S.    Zum  nachsten  Sommer  hoffe  ich  nach  Berlin  zu  kommen. 


[Leo  Gerolt,  Prussian  ambassador  to  the  United  States  to  Hum 
boldt.] 
Ew.  Excellenz 

Hochverehrte  Zeilen  vom  20.  d.  M.  erhalte  ich  so  eben  vor  Ab- 
gang  der  heutigen  Post.  Indem  ich  die  Beantwortung  derselben  mir 
vorbehalte,  erlaube  ich  mir  heute  nur  die  beiden  Drucksachen  bey- 
zuschliessen  und  Ew.  Excellenz  fur  die  wiederholten  Beweise 
Ihrer  steten  Wohlgewogenheit  herzlich  zu  danken. 

Vor  einigen  Tagen  erhielt  ich  ein  Schreiben  an  Mollhausen  aus 
Berlin  was  ich  gleich  nach  Californien  befordert  habe  wo  M.  jetzt 
hoffentlich  gliicklich  angekommen  ist. 

Entschuldigen  Ew.  Excellenz  meine  Eile  und  genehmigen  die 
Gefuhle  meiner  unbegrenzten  Hochverehrung  und  treuer  Freund- 
schaft  Ihres  dankbar  ergebensten 

Leo  Gerolt. 
Baltimore  d.  13.  Marz  1854. 

12. 

[From  Lieut.  Whipple  to  Humboldt.] 

Washington,  D.  C. 

August  8,  1854. 
To  His  Excellency 

Baron  Alexander  von  Humboldt. 
Dear  Sir : 

As  you  have  been  kind  enough  to  express  an  interest  regarding 
the  results  obtained  upon  our  last  trip  across  the  continent,  I  hope 
you  will  do  me  the  favor  to  accept  the  accompanying  living  speci 
mens  of  cactaceae.  They  were  collected  by  Dr.  Bigelow,  the  inde 
fatigable  botanist  of  the  party.  My  friend,  Mr.  Mollhausen,  has 


Ralduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  165 

kindly  volunteered  to  present  them  into  your  hands.  He  feels  in  them 
an  interest  probably  inferior  to  none,  for  in  making  his  capital  draw 
ings  he  has  attentively  studied  them.  They  consist  of  the  fol 
lowing 

Similar  species  have  been  collected  by  yourself  upon  the  plains 
of  Mexico  and  these  may  serve  to  recall  pleasant  associations  of 
earlier  days. 

With  sentiments  of  the  highest  respect  and  esteem,  I  am  truly 
Your  Obedient  Servant, 

A.  W.  Whipple. 
13- 

[The  following  was  written  by  Humboldt  as  a  communication  to 
some  newspaper.] 

In  einer  Privatmitteilung  aus  Potsdam  vom  31.  Marz  (Nr.  79 
dieser  Zeitung)  ist,  wahrscheinlich  durch  Missverstandniss  veran- 
lasst,  gesagt  worden,  dass  ein  Inspector  der  Konig.  Menagerie  auf 
der  Pfaueninsel  angestellt  worden  sei,  der  auch  die  Oberaufsicht 
iiber  die  Kunstwerke  in  Potsdam  und  Sanssouci  mit  Umgebungen, 
Fiihrer  werde.  Herr  Mollhausen,  dessen  wissenschaftlichen  sehr 
interessanten  Vortrage  iiber  die  von  ihm  durchreisten  Lander  im 
Westen  von  Missouri  in  der  geographischen  Gesellschaft  in  diesen 
Blattern  mehrmals  gedacht  wurde,  ist  von  Sr.  Maj.  dem  Konige  zum 
Gustos  der  in  den  Schlossern  in  und  um  Potsdam  aufgewahrten 
Bibliotheken  ernannt  und  ihm  zugleich  die  Oberaufsicht  iiber  die 
Behandlung  der  Tiere  auf  der  Pfaueninsel  anbefohlen  worden. 

Alexander  Humboldt. 
14. 

[From  Humboldt  to  Mollhausen.] 
In  parts  utterly  illegible. 

Ich  eile,  mein  theurer  Mollhausen,  Ihnen  fur  die  freundliche 
Mittheilung  Hires  Manuscriptes  innigst  zu  danken.  Es  hat  mir  den 
angenehmsten  Eindruck  gemacht  und  ist  schon  genug  davon  gelesen, 
um  Ihnen  zu  sagen  dass  es  sich  sehr  zum  Drucke  eignet,  in  einer 
sehr  gebildeten  Sprache  geschrieben  und  voll  Leben,  Natur  und 
Sittenverhaltnisse  der  wilden  und  (was  seltener  ist)  halbwilden 

Stamme  schildert Dieses  Lob  kann  ich  jetzt  in  weit  hoherem 

Maasse  wiederholen.     Eine  gewisse  Massigung,  Vermeidung  red- 

seliger  Breite,   Natiirlichkeit zeichnen  Ihre  sehr  lobenswerthe 

Arbeit  aus Ich  habe  keinen  Zweifel  dass  wir  ein  Buchhandler 

finden  werden 

Alex.  v.  Humboldt. 

Berlin,  28.  November  1855. 

15- 

[From  Humboldt  to  Mollhausen.] 

"Allerdings  wunsche  ich  Mollhausen  und  seine  Zeichnungen  end- 
lich  zu  sehen.  Da  er  nahe  wohnt,  so  sagen  Sie  ihm,  dass  er  mehrere 


1  66  Balduin  Mollhausen  ,  The  German  Cooper 

Morgan  vorkommt  und  sich  melde,  zuerst  aber  morgen  Montag 
friih  zum  Friihstuck,  wenn  ich  ihn  dann  nicht  empfangen  kann, 
einen  anderen  Morgen." 

So,  lieber  Mollhausen,  war  heute  Abend  die  Antwort.  Ich  lege 
Ihnen  zur  Legitimation  einige  ostensible  Zeilen  fiir  den  Fliigelad- 
jutanten  zum  Melden  bei.  Ich  gehe  morgen  Sonntag  um  8  Uhr  nach 
Berlin. 

Viele  Griisse  Hirer  liebenswiirdigen  Gattin. 

Freundschaftlichst  Ihr 

A.  Humboldt. 
Sonnabend  Nacht. 

16. 

[From  Humboldt  to  Mollhausen.] 

Erne  angenehme  Nachricht  kann  man  nicht  friih  genug  geben. 
Der  Konig,  hochbefriedigt  von  Ihren  schonen  und  interessanten 
Reisebildern,  hat  mir  mit  grosser  Freundlichkeit  versprochen, 
dass  er  gern  Ihre  .....  Bilder(?)  wird  zahlen  lassen.  Ich  werde 
ihn  schriftlich  daran  erinnern  damit  er  es  den  Geh.  Kammerern 
anzeige.  Er  hat  dabei  nicht  genug  die  Lebhaftigkeit  Ihrer  Unter- 
haltung  preisen  konnen.  Auch  habe  ich  den  Nachmittag  in  der 
Gegenwart  der  Konigin  und  der  Grossherzogin  von  Mecklenburg 
Mutter  Ihre  Bilder  zeigen  miissen.  Mogen  Sie  und  Ihre  Gattin  von 
aller  Sorge  befreit  sein. 

Freundschaftlichst  Ihr 

A.  v.  Humboldt. 
Montags. 
Addressed:     Sr.  Wohlgeb.  Herrn  Mollhausen, 

Gustos  der  Bibliotheken  in  den  Schlossern  zu  Potsdam. 
Berlin,  Ritterstrasse  39. 


New  Orleans,  La.,  den  6ten  Mai  1856. 
Mein  lieber  Mollhausen  ! 

Mit  innigstem  Vergniigen  durchlas  ich  Ihr  liebevolles  Schreiben, 
welches  ich  durch  die  Vermittlung  unseres  Freundes  des  Herrn 
Consul  Angelrodt  gestern  hier  erhielt.  Mein  Erstes  ist  Ihnen  meine 
innige  Theilnahme  zu  Ihrem  hauslichen  Gliick  auszusprechen  und 
zu  der  Vaterfreude  zu  gratuliren.  Sie  sehen  das  die  Menschen 
denken  und  der  gute  alte  Gott  es  zu  ihrem  Besten  lenkt.  Derselbe 
grosse  Vater  alles  Erschaffenen,  der  uns  auf  so  wundervolle  Weise 
aus  der  drohendsten  Todesnoth  und  vielfachen  beynahe  iiber- 
menschlichen  Beschwerden  und  Gefahren  errettete,  erhorte  mein 
Gebet  an  jenem  verhangnisvollen  Abend  in  unserem  Indianerzelt  und 
fiihrte  Sie  und  Mich  auf  den  Weg  des  Heiles  weiter.  Ich  gratulire 
Ihnen  ebenfalls  lieber  Mollhausen,  dass  es  Ihnen  gelungen  ist  das 
Wohlwollen  eines  so  grossen  Mannes  wie  das  unseres  unver- 
gleichlichen  Alexander  von  Humboldt  zu  gewinnen.  Dies  ge- 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  167 

reicht  Ihnen  zur  grossten  Ehre,  denn  Hr.  von  Humboldt  hat 
nicht  als  irdischer  Herrscher  oder  Eroberer  sich  viele  Blat 
ter  in  der  Geschichte  dedicirt,  das  unvergangliche  Reich  des 
Wissens  um  Jahrhunderte  aber  befordert  und  wird  gleich  einem 
Aristoteles  oder  Herodotos  unter  den  Vatern  der  Wissenschaft  den 
ersten  Platz  einnehmen.  Nur  mit  Ehrfurcht  nenne  ich  den  Namen 
des  grossen  gelehrten  Mannes  und  rechne  es  mir  zu  der  unbeding- 
testen  Ehre  und  zu  den  gliicklichsten  Riickerinnerungen  von  Sr. 
Excellenz  personlich  gekannt  zu  sein.  Ich  bitte  Hr.  von  Humboldt 
mich  achtungsvollst  zu  empfehlen. 

Durch  Ihre  letzte  Expedition  nach  der  Westkiiste,  mitten  durch 
die  Steppenwiisten  \velche  den  oberen  Rio  Grande  von  dem  Rio 
Gilo  und  dem  Westlichen  Colorado  trennen,  bewohnt  von  wilden 
Horden,  unter  denen  die  Apaches  die  bedeutendsten  sind,  haben  Sie 
sich  einen  Namen  gemacht  der  sehr  ehrenwerth  ist.  Umsomehr 
als  Sie  sich  nicht  durch  die  arge  Noth  abschrecken  liessen,  welche 
Sie  mit  mir  bestanden  haben,  eine  neue  gefahrvolle  Reise  zu  unter- 
nehmen.  Auch  ich  habe  seit  den  letzten  vier  Jahren  lange  Reisen 
zu  Ende  gebracht.  Im  Winter  52-53  von  New  York  nach  Australien 
in  See  gegangen  musste  (in  grosster  Detress)  mein  Schiff  aus  den 
Gewassern  des  Vorgebirges  d.  G.  H.  nach  der  Siidamerikanischen 
Kiiste  zuriicksegeln.  Nachdem  ich  einen  grossen  Theil  Brasiliens  be- 
reist  hatte,  ging  ich  in  die  Laplata  Lander  iiber,  besuchte  den  weniger 
erforschten  Uruguay  bis  zu  den  Crahdeischen  Missionen,  dann 
Entre  Rios  und  die  Pampas  von  Buenos  Ayres.  Das  Gliick  war 
mir  giinstig.  Ein  Kaiserlich  franzosischer  Schraubendampfer,  der 
"Duroe"  nahm  mich  auf.  Seinen  Zweck  ganz  Magellanien  und 
Feuerland,  die  siidlichen  und  N.  Westlichen  Canale  bis  zum  Cap 
Ares  los  montes  mit  inbegriffen  zu  besuchen,  gluckte  vollstandig 
und  viele  wohl  \vie  in  einer  Reihe  zusammengefiigte  Landschaften 
sah  ich  in  einem  ganzen  Bilde  vereinigt.  Ein  langerer  und  ein 
Kiirzerer  Aufenthalt  in  Chile  und  Peru  vermehrten  die  interesse- 
vollen  Erinnerungen.  Sehr  umfangreiche  Sammlungen  waren 
die  Friichte  nicht  unbedeutender  Anstrengungen.  Die  zwei 
letzten  Jahre  bearbeitete  ich  Canada,  die  siidlichen  atlantischen 
Staaten  und  beinahe  ganz  Texas.  Ein  Versuch  durch  die  Siony 
Lander  nach  Oregon  vorzudringen  misslang  vollstandig  an  den 
feindseligen  Gesinnungen  unserer  alten  Bekannten  der  Ogelalas  und 
Titon  Siony.  Sie  errinnern  mich  an  die  riesigen  Formen  einzelner 
Indianer  dieser  Stamme.  Die  grossten  menschlichen  Gestalten  der 
rothen  Race  im  nordl.  Continent  fand  ich  unter  den  Ohagen  Matas 
und  den  Ogelala.  In  der  siidlichen  Hemisphere  sind  es  wohl  die 

Patagonien welche  nachhaltig  sieben  Fuss  engl.  Maas  erreichen 

und  deren  Oberkorper  namentlich  im  Gegensatz  der  Beine  auffallend 
ausgebildet  ist,  so  dass  ich  sie  sitzend  noch  grosser  als  stehend 
\\ahnte.  . 


168  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

Ich  griisse  Sie  herzlichst,  gehe  im  Juni  nach  Europa  zuriick  und 
sende  eben  meine  Leute  und  Sachen  ab.  Zu  dieser  letzten  Expedi 
tion  hatte  ich  sorgfaltige  Vorbereitungen,  gute  Wagen,  Leute  und 
Pferde  gekauft  und  musste  alles  vereitelt  sehen.  Nun  mit  Gott  der 
Ihrige  als  Ihr  treuer  alter  Freund 

Paul  von  Wiirttemberg. 

Vergeben  Sie  die  grosse  Eile  mit  der  ich  diese  Zeilen  hinkritzle. 
Ich  empfehle  mich  Ihrer  Gattin  unbekannter  Weise. 

18. 

[Addressed  to  Alexander  von  Humboldt] 
Euer  Excellenz ! 

Haben  durch  Dero  gtitiges  Schreiben  mich  ungemein  erfreut 
und  beehrt.  Die  giitige  Nachsicht  mit  welcher  Dieselben  meine 
Anstrengungen  im  Fache  des  geographischen  und  naturhistorischen 
Wissens  aufnehmen,  kann  nur  den  Drang  vermehren  durch  rastloses 
Fortschreiten  in  dieser  Bahn,  mich  des  Anerkenntnisses  eines 
Mannes  wiirdig  zu  zeigen,  den  das  Jahrhundert  bewundert  und 
mit  vollem  Rechte  in  Hochderenselben  als  den  grossten  Gelehrten 
verehrt.  Wie  oft  schweiften  meine  Gedanken  in  jenen  entfernten 
Landern  zu  dem  beriihmten  Verfasser  des  Cosmos,  zu  dem  Manne 
hin,  der  zuerst  helles  Licht  leuchten  Hess  in  jene  damals  unerforsch- 
ten  Landerstrecken  der  Amerikanischen  Tropenzone,  dessen  Name 
noch  heute,  nach  mehr  denn  50  Jahren,  die  Bewunderung  aller 
Reisenden  erregt,  welche  Mexico,  die  Orenoco  Gestade,  oder  die 
siidliche  Westkiiste  bearbeiten.  In  der  Hauptstadt  des  Azteken 
Reiches,  so  wie  an  den  Ufern  des  Rimai(?)  wurde  ich  lebhaft  und 
im  warmsten  Interesse  fiir  die  Wissenschaft  nach  dem  Befinden 
Euer  Excellenz  befragt  und  in  den  entferntesten  Regionen  Slid-  und 
Nordamerikas,  gilt  Dero  Ausspruch  als  entscheidend. 

Ich  habe  in  den  letzten  7  Jahren  sehr  viele  Gegenden  der  west- 
lichen  Welt  beruhrt  und  durchkreuzt,  welche  Stoff  liefern  fiir  eine 
langere  Arbeit.  Von  hohem  Interesse  war  es  fur  mich  gleich  im  er- 
sten  Jahr  der  letzten  Reise  (1849)  das  westliche  Texas,  den  siid- 
lichen  Rio  Grande  zu  bearbeiten,  ich  verwendete  hierzu  5  Monate 
und  hatte  viel  von  den  rauberischen  Comanches  und  Lepans  zu 
leiden.  Eine  fiir  den  naturhistorischen  Geographen  wichtige  Strecke, 
von  Monterey  bis  Durango,  Chihuahua,  und  der  Westkiiste  von  Cina- 
boa  und  Sonora  eroffnete  sich  mir  auf  den  vulcanischen  Hoch- 
ebenen  zwischen  der  Sierra  Madre  und  dem  Hochzug  der  westlichen 
Cordilleren,  als  Fortsatz  der  S.  Nevada  und  der  grossen  Sierra 
welche  sich  in  Neu  Mexico  nach  Westen  abdacht. 


Euer  Excellenz  haben  so  grundlich  dieses  Gebiet  studirt  dass  ich  na- 
turlich  nichts  sagen  kann,  was  nicht  Dieselben  langst  wissen,  nur 
bemerken  will  ich,  wie  das  Studieren  Ihrer  Schriften  meine  Auf- 
merksamkeit  vermehrte  und  ich  mich  am  Anblick  des  Cerro  de  Mer- 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  169 

cado  im  Norden  von  der  schonen  Stadt  Durango  nicht  satt  sehen 
konnte.  Eine  wundervolle  Scenerie  bilden  die  Gebirge  im  Westen 
Durangos,  wo  der  Tural  Fluss  zuerst  seine  schaumenden  Wasser 
gegen  den  pacifischen  Ocean  wendet,  bis  Echevaria  anmitten  einer 
Region  geselliger  Coniferen  und  welch  ein  Anblick  von  der  Hohe 

des  Vatel  hinab  in  das  Kiistengebiet  des  Meeres  von  Cortey 

Von  meinen  kreuz  und  quer  Ziigen  in  Nord-  und  Siid-Californien 
werde  ich  mir  spater  erlauben  Euer  Excellenz  zu  referiren.  Die 
Jahre  1851-52  benuzte  ich,  nachdem  ich  iiber  den  Isthmus  von  Pana 
ma  (damals  freilich  noch  iiber  Cruzes  und  Gorgona  auf  dem 
Riicken  von  Thieren  bey  grundlosen  Wegen,  oder  in  einem  Kahn 
auf  dem  Chagres  Fluss)  nach  New  Orleans  zuriickgekehrt  war, 
den  Norden  und  Westen  wieder  in  Angriff  zu  nehmen.  Hier  be- 
gleitete  mich  der  treue,  biedere  Mollhausen  den  Euer  Excellenz 
so  giitig  in  Schutz  nahmen  und  wofiir  ich  stets  Deroselben  hochlichst 
verpflichtet  sein  werde.  \\'ie  viele  Drangsale  und  Gefahren  wir  be- 
standen  haben,  wird  Hochderenselben  bekannt  sein  und  die  Ge- 
schichte  vom  Schluss  dieser  westlichen  Expedition  klingt  so  fabel- 
haft,  dass  ich  es  fur  gerathener  halte  so  wenig  wie  moglich  daruber 
verlauten  zu  lassen.  Von  dem  merkwiirdigen  Chemirey(P)  Rock 
habe  ich  gute  Croquis  angefertigt  und  Mollhausen  wird  Euer  Ex 
cellenz  alles  mitgetheilt  haben.  Im  Jahre  1853  schiffte  ich  mich  zu 
New  York  ein  um  nach  Austral  ien  zu  gehen.  Mangel  aller  Art  und 
Avarien  nothigten  das  Schiff  von  der  S.  Kiiste  Africas  nach  Brasi- 
lien  zuriickzukehren.  Ich  bearbeitete  die  Gegenden  um  Bohio  und 
Rio,  fuhr  nach  Montevideo  und  ging  den  Uruguay  bis  nordlich  der 
Saltos,  und  besuchte  Buenos  Ayres  und  die  Pampas.  Auf  dem 
K.  franz.  Schraubenschiff  "Duroe",  commandant  Vcte.  de  la  Seis- 
sieres,  einem  trefflichen  Xautiker  bereisten  wir  die  Kiisten  Patago- 
niens  und  fuhren  am  Cap  der  Jungfrauen  in  die  Meerenge  von 
Magellanien  ein.  Da  die  Bestimmung  des  Schiffes  die  nordlichen 
Canale  zu  untersuchen  vollstandig  gelungen  ist  und  wir  ofters  laude- 
ten,  so  hatte  ich  die  Gelegenheit  diese  entfernten,  wenig  erforschten 
Kiisten  bis  Chiloe  wie  das  siidliche  Alpenland  von  S.  W.  Chile  und 
Heuerlancl,  und  deren  wilden  Urbewohnern  kennen  zu  lernen.  Uber 
Chile  und  Peru  kehrte  ich  zuriick,  konnte  aber  leider  von  Guajaquil 
nicht  bis  zum  Chimboraso  gelangen  und  musste  mich  mit  der  Fern- 
sicht  begniigen.  In  Chile  war  ich  glucklicher  und  konnte  mehr  in 
der  Nahe  die  nachtige  Andeskette  und  die  riesigen  Spitzen  des  Acon 
cagua  und  Tumpungato  besichtigen. 

Die  hochste  Gnade  Seiner  Koniglichen  Majestat  erfreute  mich 
sehr  und  ich  werde  spater  meine  respectvollste  Aufwartung  machen. 


170  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

Genehmigen  Dieselben  die  Wiederholung  meiner  aufrichtigen 
Hochschatzung  und  die  Gefiihle  der  ehrfurchtsvollen  Freundschaft 
mit  denen  ich  mich  nenne. 

Euer  Excellenz 

ganz  ergebenster  Diener 
Paul  Wilhelm, 

Herzog  von  Wiirttemberg. 
Carlsruhe  in  Schlesien, 
den  28.  August  1856. 


19. 

Carlsruhe  in  Schlesien,  den  8.  September  1856. 
Mein  lieber  Herr  Mollhausen ! 

Vergeben  Sie  dass  ich  Ihnen  erst  heute  fruh  schreibe,  aber  die 
wichtigsten  Geschafte  und  Schreibereyen  nahmen  selbst  meine 
Nachte  in  Anspruch.  Herzlich  danke  ich  fiir  den  Brief  Seiner  Hoch- 
ehrwiirdigen  Excellenz.  Dieses  Schreiben  des  grosstlebenden  Ge- 
lehrten  und  dem  Nestor  der  Reisenden  riihrte  mich  tief.  Ich  ant- 
wortete  sogleich  und  habe  auch  dem  Hr.  Baron  Ihrer  Treue  erwahnt 
und  der  fabelhaften  Leiden  denen  Sie  mit  mir  in  jenem  ungliick- 
seligen  Riickzug  ausgesetzt  waren.  Auch  ich  trug  lange  einen  Denk- 
zettel  von  den  ausgestandenen  Strapatzen  in  den  Winterfrosten  da- 
von. 

Bis  nachsten  Mittwoch  den  loten,  also  iibermorgen,  werde  ich 
um  7  Uhr  Morgens  von  Breslau  abgehen  und  daher  gegen  5  Uhr 
Abends  in  Berlin  eintreffen.  Leider  kann  ich,  da  ich  sehr  beeilt  bin, 
noch  nicht  sagen  ob  ich  ubernacht  bleiben  kann.  Jedenfalls  wiirde 
es  mir  Umstande  machen  in  Potsdam  zu  bleiben. 

Da  ich  den  Winter  auf  mehrere  Tage  nach  Berlin  gehen  werde, 
konnen  wir  uns  ja  auch  nachher  in  Potsdam  sehen  wo  ich  Sie  dann 
bitten  werde  mich  Ihrer  Gemahlin  vorzustellen. 

Herzlichst  nenne  ich  mich  Ihr  ergebener  Freund, 
Paul  Wilhelm, 

Herzog  von  Wiirttemberg. 
Addressed : 

Seiner  Hochwohlgeboren 
Herrn  Balduin  Mollhausen, 

Gustos  der  Konigl.  Bibliothek,  Potsdam. 

20. 

[From  Humboldt  to  Mollhausen.] 

Ich  freue  mich  theurer  Mollhausen,  Ihnen  heute  schon  die  Nach- 
richt  mittheilen  zu  konnen,  dass  der  Konig,  als  ein  besonderes 
Zeichen  Seiner  Zuf  riedenheit  Ihnen  den  Rothen  Adler  Orden,  vierter 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  171 

Klasse,  gegeben  hat.    Das  Kreuz,  das  Sie  morgen  tragen  sollen,  ist 
schon  in  meinen  Handen. 

Freundschaftlichst  Ihr 

A.  v.  Humboldt. 
Potsdam,  den  5.  August  1857. 
An  Herrn  Balduin  Mollhausen, 
Ritter  des  Rothen  Adler  Ordens, 
vierter  Klasse,  Gustos  der  Bibliotheken 
der  Schlosser  Sr.  Majestat  des  Konigs, 
in  und  bei  Potsdam  in  Berlin. 

21. 

[From  the  Prussian  ambassador,  Leo  Gerolt,  to  Alexander  von 
Humboldt.] 

Washington,  den  12.  Juli  1858. 
Mein  hoch-  und  innigstverehrter  Conner ! 

Seit  meinem  letzten  Schreiben  an  Euer  Excellenz  vom  5.  d.  M. 
habe  ich  eine  Unterhaltung  mit  dem  Kriegsminister  Floyd  gehabt 
und  ihm  den  Wunsch  der  Madame  Mollhausen  vorgetragen  "dass 
ihr  Mann  die  Arbeiten  seiner  Expedition  in  Berlin  beendigen  moge 
anstatt  hier  in  Washington."  Ich  sagte  Hr.  Floyd  dass  es  Ew.  Ex 
cellenz  auch  sehr  wiinschten  worauf  er  mir  erwiderte  dass  er  es  gern 
gewahren  wolle  if  Baren  Humboldt  desires  it.  Man  kann  nun  doch 
nicht  ganz  sicher  darauf  rechnen  da  von  Seiten  der  Subalternen  und 
der  hiesigen  Gelehrten  allerlei  Eifersucht  und  Intriguen  zu  befiirch- 
ten  seyen.  Hr.  Mollhausen  wird  wohl  vor  September  nicht  zuruck- 
kommen. 

Auf  seiner  Expedition  wird  er  nun  den  Mormonen  begegnen  wel- 
che  nach  dem  Siiden  und  Salt-lake  auszuwandern  begonnen  haben 
und  ihre  Weiber  vorausschicken  um  sie  in  Sicherheit  zu  bringen. 
Frau  Mollhausen  wird  hoffentlich  nicht  erschrecken  wenn  sie  erfahrt 
dass  ihr  Mann  unter  soviel  Weiber  gerathen  diirfte. 

Von  Hr.  Ex-President  Tillmore  habe  ich  einen  freundlichen 
Brief  erhalten  wovon  ich  Euer  Excellenz  eine  Abschrift  hierbeifiige. 

Herr  Corcoran  lasst  sich  Ew.  Excellenz  auch  freundlichst  emp- 
fehlen  ebenso  wie  Lt.  Gillis  dessen  3ter  Theil  seines  Werkes  ich  Ew. 
Excellenz  mitbringen  werde ;  er  steht  im  Begriff  nach  Peru  zu  reisen 
um  Beobachtungen  fur  die  Paralaxe  der  Sonne  zu  machen. 

Mayor  Emory  welcher  sich  in  seinem  report  iiber  die  Mexican 
Boundary  Expedition,  so  ungebiihrlich  iiber  Ew.  Excellenz  aus- 
gesprochen  hatte,  ist  dafur  in  einem  Artikel,  von  kundiger  Hand, 
im  New  York  Herold  scharf  mitgenommen  worden  und  ich  erlaube 
mir  einen  Abdruck  davon  hier  beyzuschliessen. 

Die  Hitze  dauert  fort  und  kein  Regentropfen  ist  seit  4  Wochen 
gefallen.  Das  Wasser  fangt  an  zu  mangeln  und  viele  Menschen 
sterben  am  Sonnenstiche ;  ich  muss  noch  8  Tage  aushalten  um  reise- 
fertig  zu  sein  und  werde  gegen  Ende  dieses  Monats  mich  in  New 


172  Balduin  Mollhausen ,  The  German  Cooper 

York  einschiffen.  Moge  die  giitige  Vorsehung  mir  vergonnen  Euer 
Excellenz  bald  im  erwiinschten  Wohlsein  wieder  zu  sehen  um  Ihnen 
auch  miindlich  meine  Dankbarkeit  auszudriicken. 

Geruhen  Ew.  Excellenz  unterdessen  die  Gefiihle  meiner  unwan- 
delbaren  Hochverehrung  und  Freundschaft  zu  genehmigen  womit 
ich  die  Ehre  habe  zu  zeichnen 

Ew.  Excellenz 

gehorsamster  Diener 

Leo  Gerolt. 
Bitte  an  Seifert's  meine  freundlichen  Griisse  zu  machen. 

22. 

[From  the  Prussian  ambassador,  Leo  Gerolt,  to  Alexander  von 
Humboldt.] 

Washington,  den  20.  Juli  1858. 
Euer  Excellenz 

Habe  ich  die  Ehre,  mit  Bezugnahme  auf  mein  letztes  Schreiben 
vom  12.  d.  Mts.  die  Anlage  yon  dem  Kriegsminister  Floyd  zu  iiber- 
reichen  welcher  mir  auch  sein  Bild  fur  Ew.  Excellenz  gegeben  hat 
was  ich  mit  mir  bringeii  werde  so  wie  die  Fortsetzung  der  Pacific 
R.  Road  Reports  bis  incl.  VII  welche  Herr  Floyd  fur  Ew.  Excellenz 
bestimmt  hat;  derselbe  ist  auf  einige  Zeit  nach  den  Virginischen 
Badern  verreist. 

Gestern  wurde  ich  durch  die  Nachricht  aus  St.  Louis  uberrascht 
dass  unser  Mollhausen  auf  der  Riickreise  hierher  begriffen  sei  und 
dass  er  in  3  bis  4  Wochen  hier  einzutreffen  gedachte.  Der  Armste 
hat  seit  Novbr.  v.  J.  keine  Nachricht  von  Berlin  erhalten  und  es 
scheint  dass  alle  Briefe  die  ich  von  Ew.  Excellenz  fur  ihn  erhalten 
und  regelmassig  durch  das  Kriegsministerium  befordert  habe,  die 
Expedition  nicht  erreicht  hatten.  Ich  schrieb  gleich  zuriick  nach 
St.  Louis  dass  seine  Familie  und  Ew.  Excellenz  nach  den  letzten 
Nachrichten  alle  wohl  waren. 

Auf  dem  Kriegsministerium  erfuhr  ich  dass  die  Expedition, 
nachdem  sie  ihren  Hauptzweck  erfiillt,  und  hundert  Meilen  ostlich 
von  Colorado  zu  Fort  Defiance  wegen  Mangel  an  Lebensmittel 
sich  haben  trennen  miissen.  Lt.  Ives  schreibt  dass  Mollhausen  mit 
7  andern  Offizieren  der  Expedition  direckt  iiber  Fort  Union  und 
Fort  Leavenworth  nach  St.  Louis  gereist  seien.  Der  Brief  von 
Mollhausen  an  den  Preussischen  Consul  zu  St.  Louis  ist  am  18.  Juni 
von  Fort  Union  geschrieben.  Lt.  Ives  schreibt,  dass  Mollhausen 
reiche  Sammlungen  von  Ansichten  und  naturhistorischen  Gegen- 
standen  mitbrachte.  Ob  er  die  Sachen  in  Berlin  bearbeiten  konnen 
wird,  wie  mich  Herr  Floyd  hoffen  liess,  scheint  mir  doch  etwas 
zweifelhaft  nach  den  Ausserungen  der  unteren  Beamten  weil  man 
fiirchtet  dass  Missbrauch  davon  gemacht  werde.  Lt.  Ives'  Ansicht 
dariiber  wird  den  Kriegsminister  wahrscheinlich  bestimmen  und  eine 
Zeile  von  Ew.  Excellenz  an  den  letztern  wiirde  wohl  den  Ausschlag 
geben. 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  173 

Ich  gedenke  am  i.  August  mich  in  New  York  einzuschiffen,  be- 
flugelt  von  sussen  Hoffnungen  und  mit  dem  innigsten  Wunsche  Ew. 
F.xcellenz  in  bestem  \Yohlsein  wiederzusehen  und  zu  umarmen. 

In  treuer  Fretindschaft  und  Dankbarkeit  verharrend  Ew.  Ex- 
cellenz 

gehorsamster 

Leo  Gerolt. 

23- 

[From  Mollhausen  to  Frau  Mollhausen.] 

Washington,  den  20.  August  1858. 

Tlieuerste  innig  geliebte  Frau,  meine  einzige  siisse,  siisse  Lina! 
Nachrichten  von  Dir !  ganz  neue !  Dein  lieber,  lieber  Brief  vom  28. 
Juni  ist  in  meinen  Handen.  Siehst  Du,  meine  Herzenslina,  mein 
gutes,  gutes  Engelsmiidel,  ich  bin  ja  nun  so  uberglucklich,  ich  weiss 
ja  dass  Du  und  unser  Kind  lebt  und  gesund  seid.  Aber  wie  ein 
Stein  fallt  mir  nun  wieder  die  Erinnerung  an  meine  letzten  Briefe 
auf  s  Herz  die  Dir,  meiner  sussen  Lina,  gewiss  Thranen  entlockt 
haben;  aber  verzeihe  mir  gute,  gute  Lina,  sieh  mal  seit  10  Monaten 
wusste  ich  nichts  von  Dir  oder  unserem  Kinde,  und  das  machte 
mich  so  schrecklich  verzweiflungsvoll.  Gewiss,  meine  Engelslina, 
Du  wiirdest  mir  gleich  vergeben,  wenn  Du  mich  manchmal  fur  Stun- 
den  und  Stunden  so  ungliicklich  auf  einer  Stelle  sitzen  oder  auf 
meinem  Bett  hattest  liegen  sehen.  Du  wiirdest  mir  vergeben  wenn 
Du  mich  gesehen  hattest  wie  ich  das  ganze  Ministerium  in  Aufruhr 
brachte,  so  dass  sie  die  Telegraphen  sogar  spielen  liessen,  und  wenn 
Du  gesehen  hattest  wie  mir  beim  Finden  und  Offnen  Deines  sussen 
Schreibens,  und  beim  Lesen  der  Worte  "ich  und  das  Kind  sind  wohl" 

cin  paar  \Yassertropfen  der  Freude   in   den   Bart  krochen ! 

Meine  stete  Sorge  ist  zum  i.  September  genommen,  ich  gehe  mit 
dem  sichern  und  prachtvollen  Dampfboot  "Saxonia"  und  werde  also 
zwischen  dem  14.  und  18.  September  in  Hamburg  ankommen  und 
Dir  gleich  per  Telegraph  Nachricht  zukommen  lassen.  Am  13. 
September  also,  mein  Engelsmadel,  schreibe  mir  ein  paar  Worte, 
nur  wie  Du  und  das  Kind  sich  befinden  und  schicke  den  Brief  Ham 
burg  post  restante  damit  ich  gleich  bei  meiner  Ankunft  erfahre  wie 
es  steht.  Dein  Brief  an  Miss  Corcoran  hat  Effekt  behabt,  ich  sehe 
heute  den  Kriegssekretar  und  wenn  nicht  Neider  entgegenarbeiten 
so  werde  ich  gemass  des  Versprechens  des  Hr.  Floyd  die  Arbeiten  in 
Berlin  beendigen,  im  entgegengesetzten  Falle  aber  so  abweisen.  Ives 
ist  noch  nicht  gekommen  und  werde  ich  mir  durch  Corcoran  Geld 
verschaffen  und  brieflich  mit  Ives  abschliessen.  Ich  muss,  ich  muss, 
ich  muss  am  iten  September  reisen.  Du  sagst  der  letzte  Brief  von 
mir  sei  in  trauriger  Stimmung  geschrieben,  Du  hast  recht,  mein 
Engelchen,  ich  glaubte  aber  auch  das  wiirde  mein  letzter  sein,  denn 
wir  waren  nur  unsere  55  Mann,  wir  lagerten  in  einem  Geholz  am 
Ufer  des  Colorado  und  waren  von  2000-3000  Mohaves  umringt,  die 
von  den  Mormonen  aufgewiegelt  waren,  und  die  durch  ihre  fiirch- 


176  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

schen  dieselbe.    Also  noch  einmal  aufrichtigen  Dank  und  auf  bal- 
diges,  frohes  Wiedersehen. 

Ihr  sehr  ergebener  Diener, 

Friedrich  Karl  von  Preussen, 

Generalfeldmarschall. 
28. 

[From  Mr.  Baird,  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution  to  Mollhausen.] 

Provincetown,  Mass. 
Aug.  8,  1879. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Mollhausen: 

Your  friendly  letter  of  the  2ist  of  July  has  just  come  to  my 
hands,  forwarded  from  Washington.  I  heartily  reciprocate  all  your 
kind  expression  in  regard  to  myself  and  family.  I  often  think  of  the 
time  when  you  were  in  Washington,  and  of  the  interest  with  which 
I  followed  your  adventures  in  the  Far  West. 

You  ask  for  many  of  your  old  friends  and  acquaintances.  Un 
fortunately  a  large  number  of  these  have  passed  away  from  this 
world.  Prof.  Henry  died  in  May,  1878,  and  I  have  succeeded  him 
in  charge  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution.  Dr.  Kennerly(?)  died 
in  1861,  having  just  returned  from  Washington  Territory.  Ives 
is  dead,  as  also  Whipple.  Dr.  Newberry  is  at  present  a  Professor 
in  Columbia  College,  New  York. 

Mrs.  and  Miss  Baird  are  well,  and  send  their  kindest  remem 
brances. 

Thanks  for  your  autograph  of  Humboldt.  His  letters  are  eagerly 
sought  for. 

I  wrote  what  you  say  in  regard  to  seeds  of  American  forest 
trees,  and  think  I  can  make  arrangements  to  obtain  what  you  want. 
The  expense  will  probably  not  be  very  great.    As  soon  as  I  have  any 
thing  definite  to  communicate,  I  will  write  you. 
Very  truly  yours, 

Henry  (?)  W.  Baird. 
H.  B.  Mollhausen, 
Potsdam,  Prussia. 

29. 

[From  Maria  Anna,  Princess  of  Prussia,  to  Mollhausen.] 

Berlin,  22.  Marz  1879. 

Von  ganzem  Herzen  sage  ich  Ihnen  Dank  fur  Ihr  so  liebens- 
wiirdiges  Gedenken  und  die  guten  Wiinsche  zum  Jahreswechsel. 
Sie  haben  mich  durch  Ihre  Zeilen  sehr  erf  reut !  Mochte  Gott  Ihnen 
und  Ihrigen  ein  gesegnetes,  gutes  Jahr  geben  und  Sie  bewahren  vor 
Sorge  und  Krankheit !  Mochten  Sie  endlich  horen  und  zwar  nur 
Erfreuendes  von  Ihrem  entfernten  Sohn.  Ich  denke  noch  oft  an 
die,  mit  Ihnen,  so  angenehm  verlebten  Abende  zuruck,  sie  sind  mir 
eine  liebe  Erinnerung!  Ware  ich  nicht  durch  mein  schlechtes 
Gehor  ein  "Storenfried"  am  Theetisch,  da  ich  stets  durch  Zwischen- 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  177 

fragen,  den  Gang  einer  Unterhaltung  unterbrechen  muss.  Die 
Taubheit  machte  einen  ganz  andern  Menschen  aus  mir,  friiher  war 
ich  lebendig  und  theilnehmend  und  nun  erscheine  ich  stumpf  und 
theilnahmlos.  Tausend  Dank  dass  Sie  immer  so  bemiiht  waren 
laut  fiir  mich  zu  sprechen.  Nochmals  spreche  ich  Ihnen  meinen 
warmsten  Dank  aus,  dass  Sie  meiner  gedacht  und  zeichne  mich  als 

Ihre  ergebene 
Maria  Anna, 

Prinzessin  von  Preussen, 

Herzogin  zu  Anhalt. 
30. 
[From  the  King  of  Sweden  to  Mollhausen.] 

Stockholm,  20.  Febr.  1880. 
Bester  Herr  Mollhausen: 

Mit  wahrer  Freude  habe  ich  die  mir  zugestellten  interessanten 
Werke  iiber  die  grossartige  Natur  der  Felsengegende  Neu-Mexikos 
und  Nordamerikas  empfangen,  und  ist  es  mir  sehr  angenehm  ge- 
wesen  die  letztverflossenen  Sommer  in  Fagerlund  gestiftete  per- 
sonliche  Bekanntschaft  des  Verfassers  durch  seine  Werke  fortsetzen 
und  befestigen  zu  konnen. 

Zum  Beweis  meiner  Hochschatzung  Ihrer  literarischen  Erzeug- 
nisse  und  als  Zeichen  meiner  aufrichtigen  Dankbarkeit  habe  ich  Sie 
zum  Ritter  des  Schwedischen  Nordsternordens  ernannt. 

Ihr  wohlbewogener 

Oskar. 
31- 

[From  Paul  Heyse  to  Mollhausen.] 
Geehrtester  Herr ! 

Erlauben  Sie  mir  die  Anfrage,  ob  Sie  geneigt  waren,  fiir  einen 
Neuen  Deutschen  Novellenschatz,  den  ich  in  Gemeinschaft  mit  Lud- 
wig  Laistner  herauszugeben  gedenke,  uns  Ihre  treffliche  Erzahlung 
"Die  beiden  Fahren"  event,  ohne  Honorar  zu  iiberlassen  und  auch 
die  Einwilligung  Ihres  Herrn  Verlegers  zu  erwirken.  Der  Verleger 
unseres  Sammelwerkes,  der  den  vor  sieben  Jahren  durch  den  Tod 
von  Hr.  Kurz  unterbrochenen  deutschen  Novellenschatz  vervoll- 
standigen  soil,  glaubt  das  Unternehmen  nur  durchfiihren  zu  konnen, 
wenn  er  in  den  Stand  gesetzt  wird,  das  gebundene  Bandchen  zu 
i  Mark  zu  verkaufen.  Unter  diesen  Umstanden  miissen  wir  auf 
das  liberale  Entgegenkommen  der  Dichter  und  ihrer  Verleger  rech- 
nen,  dessen  wir  uns  auch  bei  der  ersten  Serie  zu  ruhmen  hatten. 

Ich  darf  wohl  hoffen,  dass  Sie  bald  durch  eine  hoffentlich  giin- 
stige  Erwiderung  erfreuen 

Ihren  aufrichtig  ergebener 

Paul  Heyse. 
Alexanderbad 
b.  Wunsiedel, 
23.  Aug.  1883. 


i/8  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

32. 

[From  Paul  Heyse  to  Mollhausen.] 
Wertester  Herr! 

Ich  habe  Ihren  "Engelid"  noch  nicht  zuriickgesandt,  well  ich  im 
Einverstandniss  mit  meinem  Freunde  und  Herausgeber  Ludwig 
Laistner,  Sie  bitten  wollte,  tins  geracle  diese  Novelle  fiir  unsere 
Sammlung  zu  iiberlassen.  Sie  sehen  heraus,  wie  wenig  Gewicht 
wir  beide  auf  den  merkwiirdigen  Umstand  unseres  Zusammentref- 
fens  in  dem  Grundmotiv  legen.  Gerade  dieser  in  der  Geschichte  der 
Erfindung  so  haufig  beobachtete  Zufall,  zu  allem  Ubrigen,  was  Ihre 
Geschichte  an  farbiger  Scenerie  und  feinen  Herzenstonen  enthalt, 
legt  es  den  Wunsch  nahe,  sie  aufzunehmen.  Mit  Herrn  Janke  konn- 
ten  wir  uns  freilichdurch  ein  Honorar,  das  wir  ihm  schon  in  anderen 
Fallen  geboten,  abfinden.  Auch  ist  es  durchaus  nicht  diese  Riick- 
sicht,  die  uns  "Engelid"  vorziehen  lasst.  Und  so  hoffen  wir  auf 
Ihre  freundliche  Zustimmung,  ohne  deswegen  die  Moglichkeit  aus- 
zuschliessen,  dass  unter  den  anderen  uns  noch  unbekannten  Novellen, 
die  Sie  uns  mitteilen  wollen,  eine  oder  die  andere  uns  noch  werth- 
voller  erscheinen  mochte,  als  die  vorlaufig  erkorene. 

Die  Saclie  hat  iibrigens  keine  Eile.  Vor  Ende  des  Jahres  werden 
wir  schwerlich  die  letzte  Entscheidung  zu  treffen  haben. 

Das  entsetzliche  Geschick,  das  Sie  betroffen,  beschaftigt  mich, 
seit  ich  davon  erfuhr,  unaufhorlich.  Ich  habe,  wie  Sie  wissen,  viel 
vom  Hartesten  erlebt,  was  einem  Sterblichen  verhangt  werden  kann. 
Dies  aber — wie  alles  Ziellose  und  Unergriindliche — muss  mit  wahr- 
haft  seelenzerriittendem  Grauen  auf  Ihnen  lasten.  Ich  bin  zu  Nichts 
unfahiger,  als  Trostspriiche  zu  stammeln,  an  die  ich  selbst  nicht 
glaube.— Dass  ich  in  Berlin  nur  zu  dem  einen  Zweck  verweilte,  ist 
Ihnen  wohl  bekannt.  Ich  war  so  von  Theaterpflichten  erfiillt,  dass 
ich  meinen  altesten  und  liebsten  Freunden  fern  bleiben  musste. 
So  konnte  ich  auch  nicht  daran  denken,  neue  Bekanntschaften  zu 
machen.  Doch  werde  ich  die  Strasse  nach  Berlin  ja  nun  ofter  zu 
wandeln  habe,  seit  sich  mein  Verhaltniss  zur  Biihne  wieder  befestigt 
hat.  Dann  hoff  ich  auch  das  gegen  Sie  Versaumte  nachzuholen. 

Mit  herzlichem  Gruss  Ihr 

Paul  Heyse. 

Miinchen,  13.  Febr.  1884. 

33- 

[From  Maria  Anna,  Princess  of  Prussia,  to  Mollhausen.] 

Neapel,  Hotel  Mobile, 

den  28.  Februar  1886. 
Geehrter  Herr ! 

Was  miissen  Sie  denken,  dass  ich  Ihnen  noch  nicht  schrieb,  noch 
nicht  dankte,  fiir  einen  Brief  der  mir  das  ganze  Herz  bewegte,  durch 
den  Ton  der  daraus  zu  mir,  in  weiter  Feme,  klang,  wie  der  Glock- 
enklang  aus  dem  Heimathsort!  Ihre  lieben,  warmen  Zeilen  haben 
mir  unendlich  wohlgethan,  und  die  Stimmung  in  der  Sie  sie  nieder- 


Baldwin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  179 

schrieben,  beseelte  mich  auch  als  ich  sie  las.  Mir  wurde  so  friedlich 
zu  Muthe  und  icli  fiihlte  den  ganzen  Zauber  des  Wortes  "Hcimath" ! 
Nehmen  Sie  meinen  innigsten  Dank,  fur  diesen  Gruss  aus  der  Hei- 
math,  Sie  ahnen  nicht  wie  sehr  Sie  mich  dadurch  erfreut !  Ihre 
Schilderung  konnte  ich  so  mitempfinden,  war  es  doch  auch  das  erste 
Weihnachtsfest  das  ich  in  der  Fremde  verlebte,  fern  von  so  vielen 
Lieben! — Gott  vergelte  Ihnen  Ilir  liebes  (iedenken,  tausend,  tau- 
send  Dank ! 

Hoffentlich  geht  es  Ihnen  und  den  Ihrigen  gut  und  leidet  Ihre 
arme  Frau  nicht  zu  sehr,  unter  der  ewigen  Sorge  und  Angst !  Meine 
armen  Dessauer  Geschwister  verloren  auch  den  hoffnungsvollen, 
heissgeliebten,  altesten  Sohn !  Und  ich  hatte  die  Sorge  meinen  ge- 
liebten  Sohn  krank  zu  wissen,  ich  wollte  schon  zu  ihm  reisen,  aber, 
Gott  sei  Dank,  kamen  so  gute  Nachrichten,  dass  man  mir  abrieth. 

In  Rom  lebte  ich  nur  der  Kunst  und  war  fortgesetzt  auf  den 
Beinen,  so  dass  ich  denn,  war  ich  einmal  zu  Hause,  todtmiide  war 
und  unfahig  zum  Schreiben.  Ich  besuchte  auch  die  zwei  tausend 
Jahr  alte  Stadt  Corveto,  unweit  Rom,  nahe  von  Civita  Vecchia  und 
sah  die  etruscischen  Graber,  wohnte  auch  Ausgrabungen  bei.  In 
Tivoli  war  es  himmlisch  schon,  der  Siiden  hat  doch  einen  eigenen 
Reiz  und  Zauber,  und  dort  ist  der  so  ganz  ausgepragt.  Jetzt  bin  ich 
in  Neapel  und  es  regnet  in  Stromen ;  ich  will,  wenn  es  das  Wetter 
erlaubt,  dieselbe  Tour,  wie  vor  Rom,  machen  und  wieder  nach 
Sorrent  und  Capri  gehen  und  auch  noch  Amalfi  besuchen.  Diese 
Orte  werden  mich  hoffentlich  mit  dem  Pinsel  in  der  Hand  sehen. 
Dort  ist  es  einsamer,  besonders  in  Capri  kann  man  ungestort  von 
Fremden  malen. — Wenn  ich  zu  meinem  Fenster  heraus  blicke,  sehe 
ich  jetzt  weder  die  Berge  von  Sorrent,  noch  den  Vesuv,  noch  Capri, 
noch  das  Meer,  denn  alles  ist  in  Nebel  gehiillt  und  derRegenklatscht 
an  die  Scheiben !  Vor  mir  brennt  das  Feuer  im  Kamin  und  doch 
friert  man !  Solche  Launen  kann  der  Siiden  haben.  Nun  bitte  halten 
Sie  mich  nicht  fiir  undankbar,  sondern  rechnen  Sie  mein  Schweigen 
nur  den  vielen  Sehenswiirdigkeiten  Roms  zu !  Ich  bin  Ihnen,  von 
ganzem  Herzen,  innigst  dankbar  fiir  den  lieben  Weihnachtsgruss ! 
Gedenken  Sie,  auch  fernerhin  bitte 

Ihrer 

Ihnen  sehr  dankbaren 
Maria  Anna, 

Prinzessin  von  Preussen, 
Herzogin  zu  Anhalt. 

34- 
[From  Prinz  Hohenlohe  to  Mollhausen.] 

Berlin,  2Oten  August  1889. 
Yerehrter  Herr! 

Leider  fand  ich  Sie  hier  nicht  anwesend,  wie  Ihnen  Ihre  Frau 
Schwiegertochter  mittheilen  wird.  Ich  muss  daher  schriftlich  Sie 


i8o  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The   German  Cooper 

bitten,  mir  nach  Kroschentin  in  Ober-Schlesien  die  beiden  Gedichte 
von  Ihnen,  welche  Sie  am  27ten  Oct.  1887  in  der  "Vereinigung 
Prinz  Friedrich  Karl"  im  Kaiserhof  vorgetragen,  zu  senden,  damit 
ich  in  der  Lage  bin,  Sie  drucken  und  bei  der  bevorstehenden  Ver 
einigung  am  27.  Okt.  dieses  Jahres  an  die  Mitglieder  vertheilen  zu 
lassen.  Selbstverstandlich  wird  darauf  gedruckt  werden,  dass  der 
Nachdruck  verboten  wird,  jedoch  bitte  ich  mir  mittheilen  zu  wollen, 
ob  Sie  wunschen,  dass  Ihr  Name  als  Verfasser  hierbei  genannt  wird. 
Mit  vorziiglichster  Hochachtung 

Ihr  ergebener 

Prinz  Hohenlohe. 

35- 

[From  Prinz  Hohenlohe  to  Mollhausen.] 

Kroschentin,  den  2Oten  Sept.  (1889?) 
Euer  Wohlgeboren 

Beehre  ich  mich  fiir  die  Zusendung  der  Gedichte,  welche  ich  in 
der  Anlage  zuriick  sende,  meinen  ganz  ergebensten  Dank  auszu- 
sprechen.  Ich  habe  dieselben  mit  Ausnahme  des  letzten  Gedichtes 
(Husaren-Spriichlein)  der  Hof-Verlagsbuchhandlung  von  Mittler 
Sohn,  Kochstr.  78-80  iibersandt  mit  dem  Auftrag  einen  Probebogen 
Ihnen  nach  Ihrer  Wohnung  zu  iibermitteln,  ehe  dieselben  gedruckt 
werden.  In  der  Hoffnung,  dass  so  Ihren  Wunschen  Rechnung 
getragen  ist,  verbleibe  ich,  Ihnen  nochmals  meinen  besten  Dank  da- 
fur  auszusprechen 

Ihr  sehr  ergebener 

Prinz  Hohenlohe. 

36. 

[From  Ober-Hofmarschall  Eulenburg  to  Mollhausen.] 

Berlin,  den  27.  Januar  1905. 
Ober-Hofmarschallamt 

Seiner  Majestat 

des  Kaisers  und  Konigs. 

B.  72. 

Seine  Majestat  der  Kaiser  und  Konig  haben  Allergnadigst  ge- 
ruht,  anlasslich  Allerhochst  Ihres  Geburtstages  Euer  Hochwohlge- 
boren  den  Koniglichen  Kronen  Orden  III.  Klasse  zu  verleihen. 

Indem  ich  Euer  Hochwohlgeboren  diese  Ordensdekoration  hier- 
neben  zugehen  lasse,  spreche  ich  Ihnen  zu  diesem  Allerhochsten 
Gnadenbeweise  meinen  besten  Gliickwunsch  aus. 

Gleichzeitig  benutze  ich  die  Gelegenheit,  Euer  Hochwohlgeboren 
meinen  aufrichtigsten  Dank  fiir  die  Uberreichung  Ihres  Buches 
"Bilder  aus  dem  Reiche  der  Natur",  dessen  Lektiire  mir  reichen 
Genuss  gewahrt  hat,  auszusprechen.  Ebenso  drangt  es  mich  Ihnen 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  181 

meine  aufrichtigsten  und  angelegentlichsten  Gluckvvunsche  zur 
Feier  Ihrer  goldenen  Hochzeit,  welche  Sie  in  zwei  Tagen  begehen 
werden,  hierdurch  zu  ubermitteln. 

A.  Eulenburg. 

An 

den  Kustos  der  Bibliotheken 
in  den  Koniglichen  Schlossern 
in  und  um  Potsdam, 
Herrn  Mollhausen 
Hochwohlgeboren. 


1 82  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

III. 

i. — AN  INTERVIEW  WITH   MOLLHAUSEN. 

Mollhausen's  relations  to  Prince  Friedrich  Karl,  and  his  devotion 
to  the  same  are  well  shown  in  the  following  interesting  narrative 
from  the  diary  of  Frau  v.  d.  R.,  Prioress  of  Stift  Marienteich  :2 

"Kurfiirstenstrasse  102,  nahe  der  Keithstrasse  wohnt  Balduin 
Mollhausen — Sprechstunde  12  bis  i",  stand  auf  meinem  Arbeits- 
zettel. 

Ich  sah  auf  meine  Armbanduhr — es  war  kaum  zwolf.  "Noch 
sehr  friih,"  sagte  ich,  "aber  umsehen  nach  dem  Hause  kann  ich  mich 
immer." 

Richtig,  driiben  war  das  gesuchte.  Ich  iiberschritt  die  Strasse, 
ware  um  ein  Haar  von  einer  Droschke  iiberfahren  worden  und 
stiirzte,  noch  athemlos  vom  Schrecken,  hinein  in  die  offene  Haus- 
thiir  der  102,  dem  spottischen  Lachen  uber  meine  Ungewandtheit 
entfliehend. 

Aber  incidit  in  Scyllam,  qui  vult  vitare  Charybdim !  Die  Thiir 
war  namlich  nicht  eigentlich  offen,  sondern  wurde  eben  geo'frnet, 
und  so  kam  es,  dass  ich  fliehend  dem  Spotte,  direkt  in  die  Arme  eines 
Herrn  flog,  der  wohl  etwas  erschrocken,  aber  doch  sehr  hoflich  zu- 
riicktrat  und  seinerseits  um  Entschuldigung  bat. 

"Man  muss  sich  erst  an  dies  rasche  Treiben  hier  in  Berlin  ge- 
wohnen,"  hatte  ich  nach  kurzer  Darlegung  der  Thatsache  stiickweise 
vorgebracht. 

"Diese  Kutscher  sind  aber  auch  gar  zu  riicksichtslos. — Aber  ich 
sehe,  Sie  haben  sich  iiberanstrengt,  meine  Dame.  Soil  ich  Sie 
vielleicht  die  Treppe  hinauffiihren  ?  Zu  wem  wollen  Sie,  wenn  ich 
fragen  darf?" 

Unwillkiirlich  sah  ich  hinauf  zu  dem  alten  Herrn  mit  weissem 
Haar  und  langem  weissem  Barte,  der  so  unbefangen  hoflich  zu  mir 
sprach,  und  begegnete  wohlwollend  freundlichen  Blicken  aus  blau- 
grauen  klaren  Augen. 

"Ich  nehme  Ihre  Giite  dankbar  an,  ich  will  zu  Herrn  Balduin 
Mollhausen." 

Einen  kurzen  Augenblick  las  ich  etwas  wie  Erstaunen  in  seinen 
fast  faltenlosen  frischen  Ztigen,  dann  reichte  er  mir  den  Arm,  fiihrte 
mich  hinauf  zum  ersten  Stocke  und  sagte,  wahrend  er  mit  dem  win- 
zigen  Hausschliissel  die  Entrethiire  offnete :  "Hier  sind  Sie  schon 
an  Ihrem  Ziele  und  Balduin  Mollhausen  bittet  Sie  naher  zu  treten." 

"Sie? — Sie  selbst  sind?  o,  dann  darf  ich  wohl — " 


2  For  this  interview  of  Frau  v.  d.  R.  with  Mollhausen  I  am  indebted  to 
an  article  "Balduin  Mollhausen"  in  the  Tagliche  Rundschau,  Jan.  26,  1895, 
by  Baron  von  Dincklage,  at  whose  disposal  Frau  v.  d.  R.  had  placed  her  Mss. 


Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  183 

Aber  er  hatte  bereits  die  Thiir  des  Zimmers  geoffnet,  ehe  ich  zu 
\Yorten  kam  und  dann  sass  ich  in  einem  bequemen  Sessel,  bevor  ich 
noch  gesagt,  vver  ich  sei. 

"Bitte,  erholen  Sie  sich  erst,  ich  will  inzwischen  die  Jalousien 
offnen,  die  Sonne  ist  jetzt  verschvvunden.  Gut,  dass  Sie  mir  begeg- 
neten,  ich  wollte  eben  eine  langere  Promenade  machen." 

Er  war  mit  raschen  elastischen  Schritten  an  die  Fenster  getreten, 
nichts  liess  aus  seinen  Bewegungen  den  Mann  von  65  Jahren  erken- 
nen,  als  welchen  ihn  Kiirschner  nachweist. 

Jetzt  nahm  er  einen  Sessel,  setzte  sich  mir  gegeniiber  und  den 
schonen  alten  Kopf  mit  dem  jugendlich  kraftigen  Ausdruck  etwas 
vorneigend,  sah  er  mich  an.  "Nun,  meine  Gnadige,  womit  kann  ich 
dienen?" 

Ich  nannte  ihm  meinen  Namen,  meine  Stellung. — Mit  stummer, 
artiger  Verbeugung  horte  er  meine  Personalien  an. 

"Ich  habe  viele  von  Ihren  Werken  gelesen,"  begann  ich,  "und 
mochte — 

"Den  alten  Trapper,  den  Jager  aus  den  Rocky  Mountains  ken- 
nen  lernen,"  fiel  er  lachend  ein. 

"Sie  scheinen  schon  Erfahrung  im  Empfange  von  Interviewern 
zu  haben,"  erwiderte  ich,  den  Scherz  aufnehmend,  "aber  diesmal  ist 
es  ein  ganz  besonderes  Interesse,  das  mich  herfiihrt."  Ich  nahm  ein 
zusammengefaltetes  Heftchen  aus  meinem  Muff,  entfaltete  es  und 
begann  langsam  zu  lesen : 

Die  Ahre  reift ;   vom  Herbst  des  heit'ren  Griin  beraubt, 

Nicht  lust'gen  Faltern  mehr  sie  dient  zur  Augenweide. 

Hat  reicher  Schnee  sich  erst  gesenkt  auf  Bart  und  Haupt, 

Erhohter  Ernst  sich  einet  mit  des  Lebens  Freude. 

"Mein  Gott.  woher  haben  Sie  das,  das  ist  ja — 

"Es  ist  die  Einleitung  zu  den  Dreilinden-Liedern,  am  Gedenk- 
tage  fur  den  hochseligen  Prinzen  Friedrich  Karl  1889  den  Mit- 
gliedern  des  Vereins  gewidmet,  welcher  des  Prinzen  Namen  tragt." 

"Und  sein  Gedachtniss  treu  und  aus  tiefstem  Herzen  ehrt," 
vervollstandigte  Mollhausen. 

"Und  seinem  begeisterten  Sanger,"  fuhr  ich  fort,  "seinem  Dich- 
ter,  gilt  mein  Besuch !  Ich  las  die  Lieder  bei  meinem  Schwager, 
dem  Oberstlieutenant  v.  Schwager  und — 

"Bei  mir  hatten  Sie  sich  nicht  wohlthuender  einfiihren  konnen, 
wie  durch  diese  Erinnerung."  Er  hatte  mir  die  Hand  gereicht  und 
in  seinen  treuen  Augen  wunde  es  plotzlich  glanzend.  Er  hinderte 
cs  aber  nicht  und  mit  innigem  Ausdrucke  fuhr  er  fort :  "Ja,  ich  war 
sein  begeisterter  Sanger!  Wer,  der  ihn  kannte,  ware  nicht  fur  den 
Fiirsten  begeistert  gewesen,  der  ein  so  echt  fiihlendes,  warmes 
Herz — tief  verborgen  in  der  Brust  trug,  fur  den  Mann,  dem  aller 
falscher  Schein  verhasst  war,  fiir  den  Feldhcrrn,  dessen  fester 
Wille  jede  Ubermacht  vernichtete,  fiir  den  Wohlthatcr  im  Ver- 
borgenen.  fiir  den  Menschen,  wo  es  sich  um  Nachsicht  mit  Men- 


184  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

schenfehlern  handelte !  Wo  findet  man  einen  Fursten,  der  wie  er 
die  Wahrheit  horen  wollte  und — auch  zu  horen  verstand,  wo  einen 
Mann,  der  in  sich  so  viel  Kb'nnen  und  so  viel  Wissen  mit  so  an- 
spruchsloser  Zuriickhaltung  vereinte?" 

"Glauben  Sie  mir,  dass  ich  das  Alles,  was  Sie  sagen,  Herr  Moll 
hausen,  voll  nachfiihle?" 

"Weil  Sie  den  Prinzen  kennen  lernten,  wie  ihn  die  grosse  Masse 
nicht  kannte,  wohl  durch  Herrn  von  Schwager.  Auch  er  denkt, 
wie  ich  — wie  wir  Alle,  die  dem  Prinzen  nahe  standen.  Mehr  und 
mehr  wird  seine  wahre  Gestalt  auch  der  grossen  Welt  bekannt  wer- 
den,  die  in  ihm  nur  den  strengen  Feldherrn,  den  Soldaten  erblickte, 
und  in  der  Weltgeschichte  wird  sein  Name  nicht  nur  unter  den 
Grossesten,  sondern  auch  unter  den  Besten  genannt  werden." 

"Sie  sahen  den  Prinzen  oft?" 

"Fast  wochentlich  befahl  er  mich  hinaus  nach  seinem  Tuskulum 
seinem  Jagdschlosse  'Dreilinden.'  Ich  wohnte  damals  in  Potsdam. 
Ich  sehe  noch  seinen  aufmerksamen  Blick,  wenn  er  der  Erzahlung 
meiner  Wanderungen  folgte.  Und  wenn  ich  neuen  Gasten  wieder- 
holt  meine  Fahrten  vortragen  musste  und  denn  abzukiirzen  suchte, 
dann  mahnte  der  Prinz :  'Mein  Theuerster,  jetzt  kommt  das  und 
das !  Fine  gute  Erzahlung  ist  wie  ein  lieber  Freund,  sie  kommt 
nicht  zu  oft !  Man  will  aber  auch  keine  Anderung,  weder  bei  dem 
Einen  noch  bei  den  anderen.'  " 

"Waren  Sie  auch  mit  im  Keller?" 

"Gewiss,  in  jenem  Keller,  in  welchem  man  beim  duftenden  R6- 
mer  den  Erzahlungen  bedeutender  Manner  lauschte,  in  welchem  die 
wichtigsten  Tagesfragen,  geistvoll  behandelt,  zum  Austrage  kamen 
und — wo  auch  meine  Verse  mir  so  manches  Mai  des  koniglichen 
Prinzen  Lob  in  Wort  und  Blick  und  Handedruck  eintrugen." 

"Es  soil  ein  Lied  von  Ihnen  in  jenem  Keller  existiren?"  fragte 
ich. 

"V.on  mir,  wie  von  alien  denen,  die  zu  des  Prinzen  Tafelrunde 
gezogen  wurden.  Nur — nun  ja — es  war  so  eine  kleine  Licentia 
poetica, — wahrend  die  iibrigen  alle  in  Glasbildern  die  runden  Schei- 
ben  der  Fenster  zieren,  findet  man  mich  auf  den  Boden  eines  Fasses 
gemalt,  eine  Erfindung,  die  ja  schon  der  selige  Rafael  machte." 

"Nun,  als  Madonna  della  Seggiola  werden  Sie  sich  doch  nicht 
haben  darstellen  lassen?"  fragte  ich  scherzend. 

"Nein,  aber  als  'Alter  Deutscher  auf  der  Barenhaut.'  Indessen 
glaube  ich  nicht,  dass  das  Alles  heute  noch  existirt.  Ja.  wenn  der 
Prinz  noch  lebte,  dann ." 

Er  schwieg  und  schaute  nachdenkend  auf  eine  grosse  Photo 
graphic  des  Prinzen-Feldmarschalls,  die  iiber  dem  Kamin  aufge- 
stellt  war. 

Ich  hielt  unwillkiirlich  Rundschau  im  Raume.  Wande  und 
Ecken  waren  mit  Sammlungen  der  Erzeugnisse  ferner  Welttheile 
geziert.  Indianische  Waffen,  Schmuck  und  Kleidungsstucke  auf 


Balduin  Mollhauscn,  The  German  Cooper  185 

Panoplien  zusammengestellt,  sprachen  von  des  Dichters  Trapper- 
zeit.  Eine  reiche  Galerie  von  Aquarellen  zeigte  Landschaften  von 
grotesker  Wildheit  oder  Szenen  von  grosser  Lebenstreue,  Kampfe 
und  Tanze  der  Indianer  oder  deren  Lagerstatten  und  Hiitten  dar- 
stellend. 

"Lassen  wir  langst  vergangene  Zeiten,"  sagte  jetzt  Herr  M611- 
hausen,  als  wolle  er  aller  hand  Erinnerungen  abschiitteln.  "Ver- 
gangenes  kehrt  nicht  wieder — vielleicht  in  den  ewigen  Jagdgriin- 
den!"  fiigte  er  fast  traurig  hinzu.  "Sehen  Sie  meine  Zeichnungen," 
sprach  er  dann  abspringend,  "nicht  eine  ist  dabei,  die  nicht  eine 
Erinnerung  brachte !" 

"Auch  diese  furchtbar  bemalte  Frau,  die  am  Feuer?"  fragte  ich 
neckend. 

"Auch  die  gute  alte  Squaw  !  Ihrem  scharfen  Ohre  verdanke  ich 
es,  wenn  ich  in  einer  schlimmen  Nacht  nicht  die  Beute  jenes  Bur- 
schen  wurde,  dessen  Schadel  Sie  da  iiber  meinem  Schreibpulte  er- 
blicken !" 

Wahrhaftig  da  lag  ein  grosser  weisser  Todtenkopf ! 

"Auch  ein  Erinnerungszeichen,"  sagte  Mollhausen,  wahrend  ich 
mich  erhob. 

Ich  wollte  mich  beim  Fortgehen  bedanken. 

"Nein,  ich  habe  Ihnen  Dank  zu  sagen.  Sie  haben  mir  Gelegen- 
heit  gegeben,  von  dem  Besten  zu  sprechen,  was  in  meiner  langen 
Erinnerung  lebt,  von  meinem  theuren  Prinzen, — Gott  gebe,  dass  es 
nur  einen  Himmel  giebt  fur  Indianer  und  Christen,  wo  wir  uns  Alle 
wiedersehen  werden. 

"Grussen  Sie  Ihren  Schwager  und  sagen  Sie  ihm :  ich  wiirde 
niemals  fehlen  bei  der  Tafelrunde,  in  der  treue  Liebe  nicht  ausster- 
ben  wurde,  bis  der  Letzte  begraben  sei.  Ich  will  zwar  nicht  der 
Letzte,  aber  auch  noch  lange  nicht  der  Erste  sein !"  So  sprach  er, 
als  ich  von  ihm  Abschied  nahm. 

2. — AN  EVENING  WITH  MOLLHAUSEN  AT  DREILINDEN. 

The  following  excerpts  are  taken  from  Balduin  Mollhausen  und 
der  "Rote  Prim"  written  by  Baron  von  Dincklage  upon  the  occasion 
of  the  golden  wedding  anniversary  of  the  novelist,  and  published 
specially  by  the  periodical  Die  Kundschaft. 

Im  Friihling  des  Jahres  1879  war  ich  nach  Potsdam  versetzt 
und — es  war  das  erste  Mai — an  einem  Aprilabend  zum  Prinzen 
Friedrich  Karl  von  Preussen  nach  Glienicke  in  das  nahe  prinzliche 
Jagdschloss  befohlen.  Dort  fand  ich  unter  den  drei  Gasten,  die  der 
Feldmarschall  allabendlich  zu  sich,  oder  auf  seine  Dampfbarkasse, 
den  "Landler",  einzuladen  pflegte,  auch  einen  Herrn  im  burger- 
lichen  Kleide,  dessen  weisser  langer  Vollbart  einen  gewissen  Kon- 
trast  zu  der  straffen,  sicheren  Haltung  und  den  so  klar  und  freudig 
dreinschauenden,  dunklen  Augen  bot. 


i86  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

"Wer  ist  das?"  fragte  ich  im  Flusterton  den  Adjutanten,  Herrn 
von  Wangenheim. 

"Mollhausen !"  antwortete  der  leise. 

"Balduin  Mollhausen?"  fragte  ich  wohl  etwas  horbarer,  wie  es 
die  Absicht  gewesen,  denn  lachelnd  trat  der  Weissbartige  auf  mich 
zu  und  reichte  mir  in  unbefangener  Weise  die  Hand. 

"Ja,  der  bin  ich"  sagte  er,  "und  freue  mich,  den  Bruder  einer 
verehrten  Kollegin,  der  'Emslanddichterin/  begriissen  zu  konnen." 

"Und  auch  ich  kenne  Sie  aus  so  mancher  anregenden  Stunde, 
in  der  Sie  mich  fur  den  wilden  Westen  begeisterten,"  antwortete 

ich  eben,  als  die  Tiir  sich  offnete  und  der  Prinz  hereintrat 

Das  sonst  einfache  Mahl  nahte  bereits  seinem  Ende  und  wir 
alle  hatten  wohl  an  den  vielfach  anregenden  Gesprachen  teilgenom- 
men,  aber  da  es  sich  um  Erlebnisse  und  Fragen  aus  dem  militarischen 
Leben  handelte, — um  Aktualitaten, — so  war  gerade  Mollhausen, 
wenn  auch  immer  voll  auf  bei  der  Sache,  doch  noch  kaum  hervor- 
getreten.  Und  doch  war  ich  gespannt,  aus  dessen  eigenem  Munde 
etwas  iiber  jene  Erlebnisse  zu  horen,  die  in  wohl  hundert  Romanen 
ihren  Widerhall  fanden,  in  Werken,  wie  sie  noch  niemals  ein  Dich- 
ter  aus  gleich  eigenartigen  Lebenserfahrungen  gleichsam  heraus- 
wachsen  liess. 

Es  war  eine  momentane  Gesprachspause  eingetreten  und  un- 
willkiirlich  richtete  ich  wohl — erwartend — den  Blick  auf  den  Mann 
im  weissen  Barte. 

Das  mochte  der  Prinz  bemerkt  haben, — wie  denn  seinem  schar- 
fen,  hellen  Blicke  iiberhaupt  Nichts  entging — denn  seinen  Becher 
erhebend  und  Mollhausen  zutrinkend,  sah  er  diesen  fragend  mit 
freundlichem  Lacheln  an. 

"Nun,  mein  Teuerster,"  sagte  er  dann,  "was  haben  Sie  heute? 
Ich  habe  einen  neuen  Cast  und — wenn  Sie  nichts  da  in  der  Rock- 
tasche  tragen" — er  zeigte  auf  Mollhausen's  Brusttasche — "dann 
erzahlen  Sie  dem  Major  von  Ihrer  Zeit  als  Trapper  und  vor  Allem 
von  den  Omaha-  und  Otoe-Indianern!" 

"Ich  fiirchte,  dass  eine  Wiederholung" — begann  eben  Moll 
hausen,  aber  der  Prinz  unterbrach  ihn  : 

"Die  alten  Freunde,  die  ich  schon  kenne  sind  mir  die  liebsten, 
also ! — Aber — ich  glaube,  es  ist  zuvor  dennoch  etwas  aus  der  Brust 
tasche  zuholen !" 

Der  Prinz  hatte  des  Schriftstellers  Handbewegung  richtig  beur- 
teilt — er  kannte  ihn  eben — und  langsam  entrollte  Mollhausen  ein 
in  blauen  Umschlagen  gehaltenes,  langliches  Heft,  dessen  letzte  Seite 
er  dann  bedachtig  aufschlug. 

Wir  beobachteten  ihn  natiirlich  und  ich  erkannte,  dass  die  Seiten, 
in  kleiner  Schrift,  und  zwar  quer  geschrieben,  eng  bedeckt  waren. 

"Wenn  Eure  Konigliche  Hoheit  gestatten,  beginne  ich  meine 
Erzahlung  mit  einem  kurzen  'Bekenntnis' — damit  doch  der  Herr 


Balduin  Afollhausen,  The  German  Cooper  187 

Major  gleich  weiss,  mit  wem  er  es  zu  tun  hat,"  fugte  er  lachelnd 
mit  einem  Seitenblick  auf  mich  hinzu. 

Eben  prasentierte  der  Haiduck  die  Importierten,  fiillte  die  Becher 
und  dann  begann  Mollhausen  mit  klarer  Stimme,  ohne  alles  de- 
klamatorische  Hinzugetue,  aus  seinem  Hefte  zu  lesen : 

"Bekenntniss  eines  Wiistenjagers." 

Und  fehlt  der  rote  Kragen  mir, 
Am  Stiefel  mir  der  Sporn, 
So  hindert's  nicht,  dass  trotzig  schier 
Die  Stirn  ich  trage  vorn. 

Dass  mit  dem  Eisen  ich  vertraut, 
Das  Ross  mir  untertan, 
Ich  frei  ins  Aug'  hab  oft  geschaut 
Dem  bleichen  Sensemann. 

Und  dass  mein  Wort,  wenn  ich  es  geb, 
1st  fest,  wie  echter  Stahl 
Drum  froh  bewegt  empor  ich  heb 
Den  funkelnden  Pokal. 

Und  trinkend  blick  ich  himmelwarts 
Und  ruf '  in  wilder  Lust : 
"Es  lebe  hoch  ein  trues  Herz 
In  jedes  Mannes  Brust!" 

Natiirlich  wurden  die  Becher  auf  das  Wohl  des  Dichters  geleert. 

"Und  nun,  wie  Sie  unter  die  Omaha  kamen,"  mahnle  dann  der 
Prinz. 

Mollhausen  erzahlte  sachlich  und  ruhig,  ohne  alle  Ubertreibung, 
wie  er  bei  einer  Expedition  des  Herzogs  Wilhelm  von  Wiirttemberg 
im  fernen  Westen,  da  wo  jetzt  die  Nordpacific  Eisenbahn  durch 
teilweise  schon  kultivierte  Lander  fahrt, — nahe  dem  Missouri — bei 
den  Council-Bluffs — im  Schneesturm  verirrt,  abgeschnitten  wurde, 
durch  lange  Tage  und  Nachte  in  einer  Schneehutte  vom  Ertrage 

seiner  Biichse  lebte Nur  einmal  unterbrach  ihn  der 

Prinz.  "Mein  Teuerster,  Sie  haben  das  vergessen  von  dem  Indianer, 
den  Sie  niederschossen !" 

"Und  den  ich  dann  an  den  Bach  schleppte  und  unter  das  Eis 
schob !  Es  war  ein  Pawnee !  Ich  musste  das,  musste  seine  Spur 
vom  Erdboden  verschwinden  lassen,  wenn  nicht  am  nachsten  Tage 
mein  Skalp  am  Giirtel  einer  Rothaut  hangen  sollte.  Es  war  mein 
Gliick,  dass  iiber  Nacht  zudem  die  Fahrten  vollig  verschneiten." 

Er  erzahlte  vom  weltfernen  Leben  unter  den  Rothauten  und  dass 
er  vollig  als  einer  der  ihren  gegolten — durch  Jahre — und  wie  der 
Hauptling  "Yellow  smoke"  ihn  als  Familienmitglied  aufgenommen. 


1 88  Balduin  Mollhausen,  The  German  Cooper 

Das  war  alles  so  anspruchslos  und  so  anregend  vorgetragen,  dass 
wir  bedauerten,  als  es  zu  Ende  war — als  Mollhausen  kurz  erzahlte, 
wie  es  ihn  endlich  dennoch  nach  der  Heimat  zog — und  wie  er  dann 
entkam  und  hierher  zuriickkehrte,  um  schon  nach  Jahresfrist  seine 
dritte  Expedition  zu  beginnen.  "Es  Hess  dem  Trapper  eben  keine 
Ruhe  daheim  und  mit  Freuden  denke  ich  noch  heute  an  mein  Jager- 
leben  in  der  Wildniss  zuruck."  So  schloss  die  Mitteilung  und  wenn 
auch  der  Rest  des  Abends  durch  die  Musik  in  Anspruch  genom- 
men  wurde — der  Prinz  liebte  den  Mannergesang — so  blieb  doch 
der  Eindruck  der  Erzahlung  aus  der  Wildniss  haften. 

Um  zehneinhalb  Uhr  entliess  uns  der  Prinz  und  wir  gingen  zu 
Fuss  nach  Potsdam  zuruck. 

So  lernte  ich  Mollhausen  kennen  und  wie  oft  betrat  ich  seitdem 
sein  gastliches  Haus,  erfreute  mich  an  seinen  Erinnerungen  aus 
der  Wildniss  in  Wort  und  Bild.  Ja — auch  im  Bild,  denn  der  alte 
Trapper,  der  Dichter,  der  Phantasiereiche  Romanschriftsteller,  1st 
auch  Maler — zahlreiche  Aquarelle  geben  auch  dem  Auge  einen 
Begriff  davon,  wie  es  einst  im  Trapperleben  zuging. 


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